Scott Edward Parazynski is an American physician and a 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 EVA to repair a live solar array. In May 2016 he was inducted into the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame. He retired from NASA in March 2009 to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities in the private sector, and he is currently the CEO of a technology start-up. He is the first person to have both flown in space and summited Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. He describes his life's experiences in his memoir The Sky Below.
Parazynski in 2008
Scott Parazynski during a spacewalk during STS-120.
Scott Parazynski during an STS-120 spacewalk to repair a damaged solar panel of the International Space Station.
STS-120 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) that launched on October 23, 2007, from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The mission is also referred to as ISS-10A by the ISS program. STS-120 delivered the Harmony module and reconfigured a portion of the station in preparation for future assembly missions. STS-120 was flown by Space Shuttle Discovery, and was the twenty-third Space Shuttle mission to the ISS.
Parazynski performs a repair of a torn solar panel on the P6 truss, reinstalled on the ISS four days earlier.
(left to right) Parazynski, Wheelock, Wilson, Zamka, Melroy, Tani and NespoliSpace Shuttle program← STS-118STS-122 →
Two commanders: Melroy and Whitson place the STS-120 mission insignia on the wall of the newly installed Harmony module.
Illustration of the ISS after STS-120, highlighting addition of the Harmony node.