Owen Garriott

About the Author

Owen Garriott is a pioneering astronaut, electrical engineer, and author whose extraordinary career bridged the realms of space exploration and scientific inquiry. Selected as part of NASA's sixth astronaut group in 1965, he flew on two historic missions: Skylab 3 in 1973, where he spent 59 days aboard America's first space station conducting groundbreaking experiments in biomedical research, Earth observations, and solar physics, and STS-9 in 1983 on the Space Shuttle Columbia, contributing to the first Spacelab mission focused on multidisciplinary science. After retiring from NASA, Garriott pursued roles in academia and industry, including as a professor and telecommunications executive. His writing draws from these unparalleled experiences, offering readers intimate insights into the human spirit of discovery. In 'Homesteading Space: The Skylab Story (Outward Odyssey: A People's History of Spaceflight),' co-authored with his son Robert, he vividly recounts the triumphs and challenges of early space habitation, blending technical precision with personal anecdotes to illuminate humanity's first steps toward living beyond Earth.