Portrait of Michael Foale Courtesy of NASA

Michael Foale is an American astronaut who was born on January 6, 1957, in England. Before he became an astronaut, Foale was a scuba diver.

Foale became an astronaut in 1987. He has spent over 634 hours in space on three spaceflights.

Foale made his first spaceflight in 1992 aboard STS-45. The crew studied the Earth and the Sun during this mission. In 1995, he flew aboard STS-63. Foale made a 4-hour spacewalk during this mission.

Foale is currently aboard the Mir Space Station. He launched aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis in May 1997. He is scheduled to return to Earth in September 1997.