https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

Houston, Texas 77058

October 2022

Josh A. Cassada

(Captain, U.S. Navy, Ph.D.) NASA Astronaut

Summary:

Josh A. Cassada was selected by NASA in 2013. He grew up in White Bear Lake, Minnesota and is a physicist and US Navy 

test pilot. Prior to becoming a naval aviator, Cassada earned his Physics B.A. at Albion College and his Ph. D. at the 

University of Rochester, conducting experimental high energy physics research at Fermi National Accelerator 

Laboratory. After two operational deployments in the P-3C, including 23 combat missions, Cassada was a P-3C and P-8A 

test pilot, as well as an instructor at the US Naval Test Pilot School. Cassada has accumulated more than 4,000 flight 

hours in over 45 different aircraft.

Cassada launched to the International Space Station as pilot of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission aboard the SpaceX Crew 

Dragon spacecraft on October 5, 2022.

Personal Data:

Born in San Diego, California, but considers his hometown to be White Bear Lake, Minnesota. Married to the former 

Megan Friedly of Charlevoix, Michigan. They have two children. 

Education:

Graduated from White Bear Lake Area High School, White Bear Lake, Minnesota in 1991. Earned a Bachelor of Arts 

Degree in Physics from Albion College, Albion, Michigan in 1995. He earned a Master of Arts Degree (1997) and a 

Doctorate (2000) in Physics with a specialty in high energy particle physics from the University of Rochester, Rochester, 

New York.

Experience:

After completing his research at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and defending his dissertation, Cassada was 

awarded his Ph.D. from the University of Rochester in 2000. He was commissioned as a naval officer later that same 

year, earning his wings of gold as a naval aviator in 2001. He began his operational flying career in 2002 with the 

Fighting Tigers of VP-8, stationed in Brunswick, Maine. As P-3C patrol plane commander, mission commander, and 

instructor pilot, Cassada was deployed to the Western Pacific, Mediterranean Sea, and Central America, serving in 

various operations including Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom and multiservice tsunami relief during Operation Unified 

Assistance. Following graduation from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in 2006, he served as a developmental test pilot 

for P-8A and P-3C aircraft in Patuxent River, Maryland. He was the P-8A Airworthiness Project Officer and lead test pilot 

for various Maritime Patrol & Reconnaissance Aircraft programs. Cassada then completed a tour as a T-38C and T-6A 

instructor pilot at the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, providing instruction in every phase of the fixed-wing curriculum. In 

2011, he was assigned to DCMA Boeing Seattle as the Chief of Flight Operations, leading all aircraft operations and 

contract oversight for P-8A, KC-46, AWACS and USMC UAV while also executing the Navy’s flight test acceptance of P-8A 

aircraft. He later co-founded Quantum Opus, LLC, providing high-speed, low-loss photon detectors to enable nextgeneration experiments in quantum optics, optical quantum computation, single-photon communication, low-flux 
https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies

Josh A. Cassada

biophotonics, and remote sensing. He has accumulated more than 4,000 flight hours in over 40 different aircraft, as well 

as 23 combat missions.

NASA Experience:

Cassada was selected in June 2013 as one of eight members of the 21st NASA astronaut class. His astronaut candidate 

training included intensive instruction in International Space Station systems, extravehicular activity, robotics, Russian 

language training, physiological training, T-38 flight training, and water and wilderness survival training. Following 

completion of astronaut candidate training in July 2015, Cassada supported real-time space station operations and 

integration, including serving as a capsule communicator in Mission Control, as well as development of both the Orion 

spacecraft and Commercial Crew Program spacecraft.

Cassada launched to the International Space Station as pilot of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission aboard the SpaceX Crew 

Dragon spacecraft on October 5, 2022.

Awards/Honors:

Awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, three Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals, including a 

Combat V, the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal and various unit commendations. Graduated summa cum 

laude from Albion College. Albion College Distinguished Alumnus. Recipient of U.S. Department of Education Teaching 

Fellowship and the University of Rochester Department of Physics and Astronomy Graduate Teaching Award.