Born in Madrid on May 30, 1958, Michael López-Alegría later moved with his family to Mission Viejo, California, where he graduated from the local high school in 1976. In 1980, he earned a degree in Systems Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy, and in 1988, he received a Master’s in Aeronautical Engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School. He also graduated from Harvard University’s Program for Senior Executives in Government. He speaks English, Spanish, French, and Russian.

After completing flight training and being designated a Naval Aviator in 1981, López-Alegría worked first as a flight instructor and later as a pilot and commander of the EP-3E aircraft.

In 1986, he joined a two-year joint program between the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, and the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in Patuxent River, Maryland. Before joining NASA, he served as a test pilot and program manager at the Naval Air Test Center. He has logged more than 5,000 flight hours in 30 different aircraft types.

In August 1992, López-Alegría joined the Johnson Space Center (JSC). After a year of training and receiving his astronaut designation, he was initially assigned to a technical role within the Astronaut Office, followed by a position at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), where he represented astronaut crews and supported launch and landing operations.

After his first spaceflight, he was appointed Director of NASA Operations at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia. Following his second mission, he led the International Space Station (ISS) Operations Branch within the Astronaut Office. After his third spaceflight, he became Technical Coordinator for the Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Office at JSC.

With his fourth mission, López-Alegría accumulated over 257 days in space and completed 10 spacewalks, totaling 67 hours and 40 minutes of EVA. He retired from the U.S. Navy in 2008, and currently serves as Deputy Director of the Flight Crew Operations Directorate. He is NASA’s executive-level authority for all matters related to ISS crew members, including procedures, standards, and the criteria for their selection, certification, assignment, and evaluation.