Michael James Massimino (born August 19, 1962)[1] is an American professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia University and a former NASA astronaut.

While a student at MIT he worked during the summer of 1987 as a general engineer at NASA Headquarters in the Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology.

[6] Massimino worked at McDonnell Douglas Aerospace in Houston, Texas as a research engineer where he developed laptop computer displays to assist operators of the Space Shuttle remote manipulator system.

In September 1995, Massimino joined the faculty of the Georgia Institute of Technology as an assistant professor in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering.

On July 29, 2014, Massimino announced that he would be leaving NASA to pursue a teaching career at Columbia University, in New York City.

"[7] At Columbia University, Massimino is teaching an undergraduate engineering course, Introduction to Human Space Flight, which harnesses his years of academic and professional experience.

[9][10] Massimino's book, Spaceman: An Astronaut's Unlikely Journey to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe, is a New York Times best-seller.

[12] September 17, 2022 Massimino was the Grand Marshal for the NYC Feast of San Gennaro Massimino is a frequent guest on television news and talk show programs, including NBC’s Today Show, ABC's Good Morning America, CNN, and Fox News.

[13] Beginning in 2012, Massimino appeared as himself in a recurring role on the CBS TV sitcom The Big Bang Theory launching aboard a Russian Soyuz to the International Space Station.

[18] Massimino makes a brief appearance at a Shuttle launch in Chapter XXIX of the 2012 novel A Hologram for the King, in which he discusses his experience in space.

[19] After the October 4, 2013, release of the film Gravity with Sandra Bullock, Massimino commented on the scientific reliability of the movie.

[27][28][29] Massimino voiced the NASA launch control official in the 2022 animated comedy Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe.