Photo: NASA / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Scott Parazynski is the sort of polymath who makes me rethink the limits of a single lifetime. A Stanford-trained physician who also flew five Space Shuttle missions and logged seven spacewalks, he embodies a fusion of intellect and nerve that is genuinely rare. The detail I keep returning to is his improvised repair of a live solar array during STS-120, dangling in the void to save a mission. That is courage backed by precision, not bravado. His Astronaut Hall of Fame induction feels almost understated for a man who mastered both medicine and orbit. I admire people who refuse to choose one calling, and he clearly never did.
Overview
Scott Edward Parazynski (born July 28, 1961) is an American physician and former NASA astronaut. A veteran of five Space Shuttle flights and seven spacewalks, Parazynski's latest mission was STS-120 in October 2007 – highlighted by a dramatic, unplanned extra-vehicular activity (EVA) to repair a live solar array. In May 2016, he was inducted into the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Scott E. Parazynski
- Name (Japanese)
- スコット E・パラジンスキー
- Reading
- すこっと E・ぱらじんすきー
- Born
- July 28, 1961 (age 64)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Leo / Ox
- Origin
- Little Rock, Arkansas, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- physician / astronaut
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Stanford University
Awards & achievements
- United States Astronaut Hall of Fame
- Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland
- 2002 NASA Distinguished Service Medal
- 2016 Leif Erikson Awards
- 2009 NASA Distinguished Service Medal
- Outstanding Eagle Scout Award
- 2016 Leif Erikson Award
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Physician — see all → · Astronaut — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.