Michael Allen Baker (born October 27, 1953) is a retired captain in the United States Navy, former NASA astronaut, and the International Space Station Program Manager for International and Crew Operations, at NASA's Johnson Space Center. He is responsible for the coordination of program operations, integration and flight crew training and support activities with the International Partners.

Early life

Baker was born on October 27, 1953, in Memphis, Tennessee, and considers Lemoore, California to be his hometown. He was active in the Boy Scouts of America where he achieved its second highest rank, Life Scout. Baker graduated from Lemoore Union High School, Lemoore, California, in 1971, and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas in 1975, where he was a member of the Tejas Club. He has two children.

After graduation, Baker completed flight training and earned his Wings of Gold as a Naval Aviator at Naval Air Station Chase Field, Beeville, Texas, in 1977. In 1978, he was assigned to Attack Squadron 56 (VA-56), embarked on the aircraft carrier , homeported in Yokosuka, Japan, where he flew the A-7 Corsair II. In late 1980, he was assigned to Carrier Air Wing 30 as the Air Wing Landing Signal Officer.

STS-52 Space Shuttle Columbia launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on October 22, 1992. During the mission crew members deployed the Italian Laser Geodynamic Satellite (LAGEOS), used to measure movement of the Earth's crust, and operated the U.S. Microgravity Payload 1 (USMP-1). Additionally, the Advanced Space Vision System (SVS) developed by the Canadian Space Agency was tested by the Canadian payload specialist and the crew using a small target assembly that was released from the remote manipulator system. The SVS will be used for Space Station construction. These three primary payloads together with numerous other payloads operated by the crew encompassed geophysics, materials science, biological research and applied research for Space Station Freedom. Following 159 orbits of the Earth, the 10-day mission concluded with a landing on Runway 33 at the Kennedy Space Center on November 1, 1992. Mission duration was 236 hours, 56 minutes, 13 seconds.

thumb|Baker suiting up prior to launch of STS-81

STS-68 Space Shuttle Endeavour launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on September 30, 1994. This flight was the second flight of the Space Radar Laboratory (SRL), which consists of a large radar called SIR-C/X-SAR (Shuttle Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar) and MAPS (Measurement of Air Pollution from Satellites). As part of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth, SRL was an international, multidisciplinary study of global environmental change, both natural and man-made. The primary objective was to radar map the surface of the Earth to help us understand the contributions of ecology, hydrology, geology, and oceanography to changes in our Planet's environment. Real-time crew observations of environmental conditions, along with over 14,000 photographs, aided in interpretation of the radar images. This SRL mission was a highly successful test of technology intended for long-term environmental and geological monitoring of planet Earth. Following 183 orbits of the Earth, the eleven-day mission concluded with a landing on Runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on October 11, 1994. Mission duration was 269 hours, 46 minutes, 10 seconds.

STS-81 Space Shuttle Atlantis launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida on January 12, 1997. STS-81 was the fifth in a series of joint missions between the U.S. Space Shuttle and the Russian Space Station Mir and the second one involving an exchange of U.S. astronauts. In five days of docked operations more than three tons of food, water, experiment equipment and samples were moved back and forth between the two spacecraft. Following 160 orbits of the Earth the STS-81 mission concluded with a landing on Kennedy Space Center's Runway 33 ending a 3.9 million mile journey. Mission duration was 244 hours, 56 minutes.

Post NASA

In January 2017, Baker left NASA to work for the private industry.