Christopher John "Chris" Cassidy (born January 4, 1970) is a retired

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

and

United States Navy SEAL The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the United States Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main funct ...

. Chris Cassidy achieved the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

. His first spaceflight was on a

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...

mission in 2009. He was the

Chief of the Astronaut Office The Chief of the Astronaut Office is the most senior leadership position for active astronauts at the NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The Chief Astronaut serves as head of the NASA Astronaut Corps and is the principal ...

at NASA from July 2015 until June 2017.

Early life and education

Cassidy was born in

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem was one ...

on January 4, 1970. He attended York High School, in

York, Maine York is a town in York County, Maine, United States, near the southern tip of the state. The population in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census was 13,723. Situated beside the Atlantic Ocean on the Gulf of Maine, York is a well-known summe ...

. He then graduated from the

Naval Academy Preparatory School The Naval Academy Preparatory School or NAPS is the preparatory school for the United States Naval Academy (USNA). NAPS is located on Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island. The mission of the Naval Academy Preparatory School is "To enhance Midshi ...

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...

, in 1989. He received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

at the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

in 1993 and a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

degree in

ocean engineering Marine engineering is the engineering of boats, ships, submarines, and any other marine vessel. Here it is also taken to include the engineering of other ocean systems and structures – referred to in certain academic and professional circ ...

at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

in 2000.

Military experience

charity

kayak ] A kayak is a small, narrow human-powered watercraft typically propelled by means of a long, double-bladed paddle. The word ''kayak'' originates from the Inuktitut word '' qajaq'' (). In British English, the kayak is also considered to be ...

paddle from Norfolk, Virginia to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

to raise money and awareness for the

Special Operations Warrior Foundation The Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF) is an American tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1980 to provide college scholarships and educational counseling from "cradle to career" to the surviving children of America ...

NASA career

Cassidy was selected as an astronaut candidate by

in May 2004. In February 2006 he completed Astronaut Candidate Training, which included scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in

and

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

systems, physiological training,

T-38 Talon The Northrop T-38 Talon is a two-seat, twinjet supersonic jet trainer designed and produced by the American aircraft manufacturer Northrop Corporation. It was the world's first supersonic trainer as well as the most produced. The T-38 can be tra ...

flight training, and water and wilderness survival training. Completion of this initial training qualified him for various technical assignments within the Astronaut Office and future flight assignment as a mission specialist.

STS-127

In February 2008, Cassidy was assigned to his first spaceflight as a mission specialist on

STS-127 STS-127 (Assembly of the International Space Station, ISS assembly flight 2J/A) was a NASA Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS). It was the twenty-third flight of . The primary purpose of the STS-127 mission was to deliv ...

, a Space Shuttle mission to deliver the Exposed Facility of the

Japanese Experiment Module Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

(JEM-EF) to the ISS aboard Space Shuttle ''Endeavour''. Cassidy and his six fellow crew members lifted off aboard ''Endeavour'' from the

Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten NASA facilities#List of field c ...

on July 15, 2009. The seven astronauts docked with the ISS on July 17, joining the six-person

Expedition 20 Expedition 20 was the 20th long-duration flight to the International Space Station. The expedition marked the first time a six-member crew inhabited the station. Because each Soyuz-TMA spacecraft could hold only three people, two separate laun ...

crew commanded by Russian cosmonaut

Gennady Padalka Gennady Ivanovich Padalka (; born 21 June 1958 in Krasnodar, Soviet Union) is a Russian Air Force officer and Roscosmos cosmonaut. Padalka is the only person to have served as commander of the International Space Station (ISS) four times. He previ ...

. This marked the first time that 13 people had been in space together, a record that has not been surpassed since. On July 22, 2009, Cassidy stepped outside the ISS with NASA astronaut David Wolf for his first spacewalk. The two began work replacing batteries on the P6

Truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as Beam (structure), beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so ...

and continued work on installing the JEM-EF. The EVA was called off after 5 hours and 59 minutes for excess

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...

in Cassidy's suit. Over the course of STS-127, Cassidy participated in two more spacewalks with NASA astronaut

Thomas Marshburn Thomas Henry "Tom" Marshburn (born August 29, 1960) is an American physician and a former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of three spaceflights to the International Space Station and holds the record for the oldest person to perform a spacewalk a ...

. The two completed replacing the batteries on the P6 truss and completed the installation of the JEM-EF during two excursions lasting 7 hours and 12 minutes and 4 hours and 57 minutes, respectively. Cassidy's third spacewalk marked the completion of the Japanese Experiment Module, a feat that took three space shuttle missions starting with

STS-123 STS-123 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) which was flown by Space Shuttle Endeavour, Space Shuttle ''Endeavour''. STS-123 was the 1J/A Assembly of the International Space Station, ISS assembly mission. The orig ...

. On July 31, 2009, Cassidy returned to the KSC

Shuttle Landing Facility The Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF), also known as Launch and Landing Facility (LLF) , is an airport located on Merritt Island, Florida, Merritt Island in Brevard County, Florida, Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is a part of the Kennedy ...

, wrapping up his first spaceflight after 15 days in space.

Expedition 35/36

Cassidy was assigned to the

Expedition 35 Expedition 35 was the 35th long-duration mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The expedition started 13 March 2013, and marked the first time a Canadian astronaut – Colonel Chris Hadfield – was in command of the station. Expedi ...

crew as a flight engineer and flew to the ISS aboard Soyuz TMA-08M (''US designation: 34S''), which launched on March 28, 2013. On May 11, 2013, Cassidy and

performed an unplanned spacewalk to replace a pump controller box suspected to be the source of an ammonia coolant leak. Cassidy participated in two US spacewalks from the ISS in June/July 2013. On July 16, 2013, he was joined by

Luca Parmitano Luca Parmitano (born 27 September 1976 in Paternò, Sicily) is an Italian astronaut in the European Astronaut Corps for the European Space Agency (ESA). He was selected as an ESA astronaut in May 2009. Parmitano is also a colonel and test pilot ...

on a spacewalk. The EVA was cut short when Parmitano reported water floating behind his head inside his helmet. During the EVA, Cassidy took his space selfie. That photo became one of the best selfies of 2013 listed by many news sites. ISS-36 Luca Parmitano and Chris Cassidy

Chief of the Astronaut Office

Cassidy was named

at NASA in July 2015, succeeding

Bob Behnken Robert Louis Behnken (; born July 28, 1970) is an American engineer, a former NASA astronaut, and former Chief of the Astronaut Office. Behnken holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and the rank of colonel in the U.S. Air Force, where he se ...

. On June 2, 2017, Cassidy was replaced by Patrick G. Forrester as Chief of the Astronaut Office and was returned to normal flight status.

Expedition 62/63

Cassidy launched onboard

Soyuz MS-16 Soyuz MS-16 was a Soyuz spaceflight launched on 9 April 2020, which transported three members of the Expedition 62/ 63 crew to the International Space Station. This flight was the first crewed launch using the Soyuz 2.1a launch vehicle, and t ...

on April 9, 2020, as part of Expedition 62. He was the ISS commander for

Expedition 63 Expedition 63 was the 63rd long duration mission to the International Space Station, which began on 17 April 2020 with the undocking of the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft and continued until the undocking of the Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft on 21 October 20 ...

, which consisted of Cassidy and Russian cosmonauts

Ivan Vagner Ivan Viktorovich Vagner (, born 10 July 1985) is a Russian engineer and cosmonaut who was selected in October 2010. He graduated from the Baltic State Technical University in 2008, before working as an engineer for RKK Energia. He began his firs ...

and

Anatoli Ivanishin Anatoli Alekseyevich Ivanishin (; born 15 January 1969) is a former Russian cosmonaut. His first visit to space was to the International Space Station on board the Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft as an Expedition 29/ Expedition 30 crew member, launch ...

. Cassidy was joined by fellow NASA astronauts

Doug Hurley Douglas Gerald Hurley (born October 21, 1966) is an American engineer, former Marine Corps pilot, and former NASA astronaut. He piloted Space Shuttle missions STS-127 (July 2009) and STS-135 (July 2011), the final flight of the Space Shuttle pro ...

and

on May 31, 2020, with the docking of

Crew Dragon Demo-2 Crew Dragon Demo-2 (officially Crew Demo-2, SpaceX Demo-2, or Demonstration Mission-2) was the first crewed test flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft. The spacecraft, named '' Endeavour'', launched on 30 May 2020 on a Falcon 9 rocket, and carr ...

. Cassidy and his crew returned to Earth on October 21, 2020. They landed in Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan at 10:54 pm. Cassidy's last two years as an astronaut were the central feature of the Disney+ docuseries ''Among the Stars''. The series was removed from Disney+ on May 26, 2023, amidst the Disney+ and

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

purge.

Post-NASA career

Cassidy joined the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation as President and CEO in August 2021 after retiring from the Navy and the NASA Astronaut Corps earlier that year. Since his retirement from government service, Cassidy has also been active on the boards of directors for several non-profits, including the Navy SEAL Foundation and the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. He also serves as an advisor for New Vista Acquisition Corp, a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC).

Awards and honors

Cassidy was awarded the

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

with

"V" device A "V" device is a metal Letter case, capital Letter (alphabet), letter "V" with serifs which, when worn on #Decorations eligible for the "V" device, certain decorations awarded by the United States Armed Forces, distinguishes a decoration award ...

and the Presidential Unit Citation for leading a nine-day operation at the

Zhawar Kili Zhawar is an area within the Khost Province of Afghanistan. Zhawar Kili Jalaluddin Haqqani was known by Afghani mujahideen as master of the Zhawar Kili tunnel complex. Mir Bahmanyar writes of the tunnels during 1986. He states there were tunn ...

cave complex, a national priority objective directly on the Afghan–Pakistan border, during

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used by the U.S. government for both the first stage (2001–2014) of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response ...

. Cassidy was a guest speaker at the

USNA The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy is the sec ...

Combat Leadership Seminars in 2003 and 2004. He was awarded a second Bronze Star for combat leadership service in 2004 during

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. Chris Cassidy is also the 500th person in space. He achieved this when his crewmates so designated him during the STS-127 mission. He is also the second SEAL to fly in space, following

William Shepherd William McMichael "Bill" Shepherd (born July 26, 1949), (Capt, USN, Ret.), is an American former Navy SEAL, aerospace, ocean, and mechanical engineer, and NASA astronaut, who served as commander of Expedition 1, the first crew on the Internatio ...

, a veteran of four missions.

Awards and decorations

Personal life

Cassidy is married to the former Peggy Yancer from

Elyria, Ohio Elyria ( ) is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the forks of the Black River (Ohio), Black River in Northeast Ohio, southwest of Cleveland. The population was 52,656 at the 2020 United States cens ...

. They have five children between the two of them. Recreational interests include traveling, biking, camping, snow skiing, weight lifting, running, basketball, real estate, and home improvement. Cassidy is a licensed

amateur radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency radio spectrum, spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emer ...

operator (ham), holding U.S. Technician level license KF5KDR. Cassidy has participated in several Amateur Radio on the International Space Station events with students in the United States. Cassidy announced his retirement from both the Navy and NASA Astronaut Corps on May 28, 2021.

References

External links

NASA biography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cassidy, Christopher 1970 births Living people United States Navy astronauts United States Navy SEALs personnel People from York, Maine United States Naval Academy alumni MIT School of Engineering alumni United States Navy officers United States Naval Special Warfare Command United States Navy personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Recipients of the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal Space Shuttle program astronauts Commanders of the International Space Station Spacewalkers