Alan Stern
S. Alan Stern is an American planetary scientist, the principal investigator of New Horizons, a former NASA astronaut semifinalist, and a commercial research astronaut.
- Born
- November 1957
- Died
- N/A
- Birthplace
- New Orleans,Louisiana
Flights
1
Spacewalks
N/A
EVA time
N/A
In space
1 suborbital flight
Bio
Stern trained as a planetary scientist and built a career studying the outer solar system. He became the principal investigator of New Horizons, which completed the first exploration of Pluto and later flew past the Kuiper Belt object Arrokoth.
NASA considered Stern during its 1996 astronaut selection but did not choose him for the corps. He later entered commercial astronaut training with Virgin Galactic.
Stern flew on Galactic 05 in 2023, conducting research during the suborbital mission. That flight was separate from both his earlier NASA candidacy and his leadership of the uncrewed New Horizons mission.