Warren Hoburg

Summary

Warren “Woody” Hoburg was selected by NASA to join the 2017 Astronaut Candidate Class. He reported for duty in August 2017 and having completed the initial astronaut candidate training became eligible for a mission assignment. The Pennsylvania native earned a bachelor’s degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a Doctorate in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley. He was assistant professor at MIT at the time of his selection. He is an instrument-rated commercial pilot in single-engine and multi-engine airplanes. Hoburg launched to the International Space Station as Pilot of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 mission aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft on March 2, 2023, and splashed down safely off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida on September 4, 2023. Woody Hoburg has logged a total of 186 days in space on his first flight. Hoburg conducted two EVAs in his career for a total of 11 hours, 38 minutes.

Personal

Hoburg was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is an avid rock climber, pilot, and engineer.

Education

Graduated from North Allegheny High School in Wexford, Pennsylvania. Earned a bachelor’s degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT. Earned a Doctorate in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from UC Berkeley.

Experience

At the time of his selection in June 2017, Hoburg was an assistant professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT, where he taught undergraduate courses on Dynamics and Flight Vehicle Engineering. Hoburg’s research focused on efficient methods for designing Aerospace vehicles. His group produced the open-source software tool GPkit, which is a Python package for geometric programming. His group’s tools were used to design a five-day endurance UAV for the US Air Force. Prior to MIT, he worked for Boeing Commercial Airplanes Product Development on software for composite manufacturing processes. From 2010-2013, he was a seasonal member of Yosemite Search and Rescue and an Operations Leader for the Bay Area Mountain Rescue Unit.

NASA Experience

Hoburg reported for duty in August 2017 and completed two years of training as an Astronaut Candidate. From October 2020 to April 2021, he served as Increment Lead for ISS Expedition 64. Hoburg launched to the International Space Station as Pilot of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 mission aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft on March 2, 2023, and splashed down safely off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida on September 4, 2023. Woody Hoburg has logged a total of 186 days in space on his first flight. Hoburg conducted two EVAs in his career for a total of 11 hours, 38 minutes. In 2024, he served on NASA’s Independent Review Team of the Orion heatshield.

Awards/Honors

He is a two-time recipient of the AIAA Aeronautics and Astronautics Teaching Award in recognition of outstanding teaching at MIT. From 2009-2013, he was a National Science Foundation graduate research fellow. Class of 2020 AIAA Associate Fellow.

Astronaut Warren Hoburg (PDF 342 Kb)