Michael Lopez-Alegria, born May 30, 1958 in Madrid, Spain, is a veteran of three space shuttle missions and one Soyuz mission. He was raised in Mission Viejo, California and became a Naval Aviator in 1981. Part of his naval experience was over here at the NAS Patuxent River, Maryland.
His first mission in space was on Columbia (STS-73) October-November 1995 as mission specialist.
His second trip was on Discovery (STS-92) in October 2000 as mission specialist. He conducted two EVAs with fellow astronaut Peter Wisoff.
His third shuttle mission was as mission specialist on Endeavour (STS-113) November-December 2002. Lopez-Alegria conducted 3 more EVAs with fellow astronaut John Herrington.
His fourth and final flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-9, launched September 18, 2006 to the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 14. He returned to Earth April 21, 2007.
He holds the second all-time record for EVA duration (67 hours, 40 minutes). He has the third longest stay in space of American astronauts - 215 days.
Lopez-Alegria retired from NASA March 12, 2012.
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