Portrait of Michael López-Alegría

Birthday profile

Michael López-Alegría

Michael López-Alegría, Spanish-American captain, pilot, and astronaut

Born
May 30, 1958
Age in 2026
68
Zodiac sign
Gemini
Birth year
1958

About Michael López-Alegría

Michael López-Alegría (born Miguel Eladio López Alegría; born May 30, 1958) is an astronaut, test pilot and commercial astronaut with dual nationality, American and Spanish; a veteran of three Space Shuttle missions and one International Space Station mission. He is known for having performed ten spacewalks so far in his career, presently holding the second longest all-time EVA duration record (first among NASA astronauts) and having the fifth-longest spaceflight of any American at the length of 215 days; this time was spent on board the ISS from September 18, 2006, to April 21, 2007. López-Alegría commanded Axiom-1, the first all-private team of commercial astronaut mission to the International Space Station, which launched on April 8, 2022, and spent just over 17 days in Earth's orbit. == Background == Son of a Spanish father and an American mother, López-Alegría was born in Madrid, Spain and raised in Mission Viejo, California. After graduating from Mission Viejo High School, López-Alegría joined the United States Navy, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in systems engineering in 1980 from the U.S. Naval Academy, and a Master of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering in 1988 from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School. Designated a Naval Aviator in 1981, his aviation experience in the Navy was as an instructor pilot in Training Squadron 2 (VT-2) at Naval Air Station Whiting Field near Pensacola, Florida, at Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 2 (VQ-2) in Rota, Spain, and the Naval Air Test Center at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. He was the first EP-3E pilot to be selected for U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. He is a graduate of Harvard Kennedy School's Program for Senior Executives in National and International Security. He is fluent in English, Spanish, French, and Russian. His son Nicolas starred alongside López-Alegría in 2006 in Mira La Luna (directed by Eduard Bosch).

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Career and life highlights

Michael López-Alegría timeline

  1. López-Alegría served as an aquanaut on the first NEEMO (NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations) crew aboard the Aquarius underwater laboratory in October 2001.
  2. He is known for having performed ten spacewalks so far in his career, presently holding the second longest all-time EVA duration record and having the fifth-longest spaceflight of any American at the length of 215 days; this time was spent on board the ISS from September 18, 2006, to April 21, 2007.
  3. López-Alegría commanded Axiom-1, the first all-private team of commercial astronaut mission to the International Space Station, which launched on April 8, 2022, and spent just over 17 days in Earth's orbit.

The world when Michael López-Alegría was born

Michael López-Alegría was born in 1958. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1958

  • #1 song"Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu (Volare)" – Domenico Modugno
  • Top movieGigi
  • Top TV showGunsmoke
  • Best-selling bookDoctor Zhivago – Boris Pasternak

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentNFL Championship "Greatest Game Ever Played" — Colts vs Giants
  • Top headlineNASA created as the United States enters the Space Race
  • Technology milestoneNASA founded
  • Defining fadHula Hoops — 25 million sold in 4 months
  • Notable inventionHula Hoop
  • World population2.93 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderDwight D. Eisenhower
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • Also wonSt. Louis Hawks (NBA)
  • U.S. population174.1M

1958 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Michael López-Alegría's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19582026
Gas$0.31$3.45/gal
Average home$12,750$435,000
Average income$6,600$67,500
Minimum wage$1.00$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.68$11.95
Postage stamp$0.04$0.73
Population174.1M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.