Col. Mike Hopkins
Notre Dame parent and NASA Astronaut Col. Mike Hopkins provides us a glimpse of his life’s many adventures, his development and growth in faith, and his perspective as someone who has twice been to space.
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Friday, July 5, 2024 12:00 pm
“A lot of times, some of the most rewarding activities you can do are the ones that are also the most challenging.” – Col. Mike Hopkins
Notre Dame parent and NASA Astronaut Col. Mike Hopkins provides us a glimpse of his life’s many adventures, his development and growth in faith, and his perspective as someone who has twice been to space.
This episode was originally published by FaithND on October 22, 2021. To explore the entire library of Everyday Holiness podcast episodes and for more information about FaithND, please visit faith.nd.edu.
View EventMeet the Speaker: Col. Mike Hopkins
Col. Michael S. Hopkins, U.S. Space Force, was selected by NASA as an astronaut in 2009. The Missouri native most recently served as Commander on the Crew-1 SpaceX Crew Dragon, named Resilience, which landed on May 2, 2021. It was the first post-certification mission of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft – the second crewed flight for that vehicle – and his second long duration mission aboard the International Space Station. He also served as Flight Engineer on the International Space Station for Expedition 64.
Hopkins participated in five spacewalks and spent a total of 168 days in space. The crew broke the American crewed spacecraft mission duration record set by the final skylab crew in 1974 as well as having the first night splashdown of a U.S. spacecraft since Apollo 8 in 1968.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Illinois and a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering from Stanford University. Hopkins currently supports International Space Station Operations at the Johnson Space Center.
Hopkins was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force in January 1992. In April 1993, he was assigned to Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he worked on advanced space system technologies. In 1996, he attended the flight test engineering course at the United States Air Force Test Pilot School, Edwards Air Force Base, California. Following graduation in 1997, he worked at the 418 Flight Test Squadron, testing C‐17 and C‐130 aircraft. In 1999, he moved to Cold Lake, Alberta, as an exchange officer with the Canadian Flight Test Center. In 2002, Hopkins was selected as an Olmsted Scholar by the George and Carol Olmsted Foundation. Following six months of language training at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, he moved to Parma, Italy, in 2003, where he studied political science at the Università degli Studi di Parma. In 2005, Hopkins was assigned to the United States Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office at the Pentagon, where he served as a project engineer and program manager. In 2008, Hopkins was selected as a special assistant to the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, where he worked until he commenced astronaut training. In 2020, while serving aboard the International Space Station as Flight Engineer for Expedition 64, Hopkins voluntarily transferred from the United States Air Force to the United States Space Force.