Doug Hurley was born in 1966 in the United States. He is a retired astronaut who has flown in space twice and is known for piloting the SpaceX Dragon. He is also a motivational speaker.

When he was growing up, Hurley always wanted to fly a space shuttle. His interest grew when he watched Saturday morning cartoons and saw clips of Skylab missions play between shows. By age 17, Hurley knew that was what he wanted to do with his life.

In July 2000, Hurley was selected by NASA as an astronaut. After two years of training, he was assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office. He served as lead Astronaut Support Personnel at Kennedy Space Center for the space shuttle missions STS-107 and STS-121, as well as at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia. He also worked on the Columbia Reconstruction Team and in the Exploration Branch supporting selection of the Orion crew exploration vehicle.

Hurley is currently an assistant director of new programs in the Flight Crew Operations Directorate at Johnson Space Center. He is trained on both Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon and is scheduled to fly the first test flight, SpX-DM2 of the Crew Dragon.

Hurley lives in Park City, Utah, with his wife Karen and son Jack. He is a sought-after media personality and brand spokesperson who combines humor, science, and personal experience to inspire others to be bold and create success without limits.