ASTRONAUTS from Australia

Top 2

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Australian Astronauts of all time. This list of famous Australian Astronauts is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Andy Thomas (b. 1951)

With an HPI of 37.76, Andy Thomas is the most famous Australian Astronaut.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages on wikipedia.

Andrew Sydney Withiel "Andy" Thomas, AO (born 18 December 1951) is an Australian and American aerospace engineer and a former NASA astronaut. He has dual nationality; he became a U.S. citizen in December 1986, hoping to gain entry to NASA's astronaut program. He is married to fellow NASA astronaut Shannon Walker.

2. Paul Scully-Power (b. 1944)

With an HPI of 37.10, Paul Scully-Power is the 2nd most famous Australian Astronaut.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Paul Desmond Scully-Power, AM GOSE FRAeS (born May 28, 1944) is an Australian-American oceanographer, technology expert and business executive. In 1984, while a civilian employee of the United States Naval Undersea Warfare Center, he flew aboard NASA Space Shuttle mission STS-41-G as a Payload Specialist. He was the first Australian-born person to journey into space, and the first astronaut with a beard. During his time in space he was able to confirm the existence of spiral eddies, and observe them with the naked eye. Scully-Power went on to work in private industry. He is considered a world expert in remote sensing: visible, infra-red, radar and acoustic and is considered a security, aviation and aerospace expert. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2004 Australia Day Honours "for service to science in the fields of oceanography and space remote sensing, and to the community through contributions to a range of government regulatory agencies and through raising public awareness of conservation issues."