Meet the Bloggernauts
Don Pettit
Currently onboard the International Space Station, Don Pettit is known as Mr. Wizard, Mr. Fixit, and as Dad. He's a chemical engineer, an Eagle Scout, and an explorer on earth and in space.
Mike Simmons
Mike, an amateur astronomer for more than 35 years, is the founder of Astronomers Without Borders, which fosters understanding and goodwill across national and cultural boundaries by creating relationships through the universal appeal of astronomy.
Ron Garan
Ron is presently working in NASA’s Open Government Initiative, which seeks to develop innovative collaborations within government, industry and with citizens around the world. He recently returned from a six-month mission of scientific research and exploration aboard the International Space Station. One of his personal objectives during the mission was to use the unique orbital perspective to put a focus on the challenges facing our planet. Ron has a strong belief in the ability of social entrepreneurialship and appropriately targeted philanthropy to solve many of the problems we face here on Earth.
Amanda Lindhout
Amanda Lindhout has gained international acclaim for her work supporting development and aid in Somalia – the country where she once spent 460 days as a hostage.
Dan Burbank
"Planet Earth is a wonderful place and it’s spectacular to view from the space station. I think it’s too small for the human species - maybe not from the perspective of the number of humans, but for our imagination. I think humans by their very nature are outward-looking and I think it’s in our destiny to leave this planet ultimately and to go other places."
Nicole Stott
Outside of her work as an astronaut, Nicole volunteers her personal time with several humanitarian organizations. She has seen through her own spaceflight experience how everything we are doing in support of space exploration is benefiting humanity both on and off the planet, and she believes that we should do everything we can to continue to take advantage of the off-planet lessons we have learned to help improve life here on Earth.
Ali Llewellyn
Ali Llewellyn is a teacher and adventurer at heart, committed to new ways to get explorers of all ages excited about space. She is intrigued by the unknown, and passionate about every way we can learn more and go further. Ali has almost 5 years of experience at NASA, developing better and more open business processes, telling stories about NASA’s exciting life sciences work, bridging the gap between generations in the workforce on use of technology, and co-leading an international education outreach pilot project encouraging students to “train like an astronaut.” She has a bachelor’s degree in classics from the University of Texas and studied cross-cultural communication and people movements in graduate school.
Mikkel V
Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen, the CEO of Vestergaard Frandsen, met Ron Garan at LAUNCH: Water, a global initiative that identifies and supports innovative work poised to contribute to a sustainable future and accelerate solutions to meet urgent challenges facing our society. NASA, USAID, the U.S. Department of State, and NIKE joined together to form LAUNCH in an effort to identify, showcase and support innovative approaches to global challenges.
John Ondrasik
Inaugural Crewmember/Guest Bloggernaut - John is a singer/songwriter who records under the band name Five For Fighting. Among his biggest hits are “Superman (It’s Not Easy),” “100 Years” and “World.”
Ed Vancise
Ed Van Cise was the Flight Director for International Space Station Expedition 28, responsible for the safe execution of the mission from May - September 2011.
Doug Wheelock
Born May 5, 1960 in Binghamton, New York and considers Windsor, New York to be his hometown. Doug’s parents, Olin and Margaret Wheelock, reside in upstate New York.
Dmitry Kondratiev
As commander of Soyuz TMA-20, Russian cosmonaut Dmitry Kondratyev traveled to the International Space Station to serve as an Expedition 26 flight engineer and Expedition 27 commander. A colonel in the Russian air force, Kondratyev qualified as a test-cosmonaut in 2000. One of his goals is to work on the United States and Russian scientific experiments on the station to help people on the planet. His Fragile Oasis blog is also published in the Russian language on the Russian Space Agency website.
Guy Laliberte
Inaugural Crewmember/Guest Bloggernaut - The founder of Cirque du Soleil® and ONE DROP™, Guy Laliberte became Canada’s first private explorer in space and the first to engage in a Poetic Social Mission in space as an Expedition 20 participant in 2009. He spent nine days on the International Space Station.
Stay Updated