Michael Nayak was born in Los Angeles and now lives in Washington, DC. By day, he is Doctor/Major Nayak, working for DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency).Michael has worked as a space shuttle engineer, Flight Director for multiple experimental spacecraft, a skydiving instructor, a planetary scientist at NASA Ames, Research Section Chief for the DoD’s largest telescope, instructor flight test engineer and instructor pilot. He has worked flight test for the prototype T-7A trainer jet, flown an X-plane, deployed to the South Pole as a US Antarctic Program Principal Investigator, managed air- and space-based special programs, and was a semi-finalist for the 2021 astronaut class. He is a USAF Test Pilot School graduate, Rotary National Award for Space Achievement recipient, and has 1,000+ hours of flight time in 40+ aircraft including the F-16, T-38, EA500 and BE-76.He holds a doctorate degree in Planetary Science from the University of California at Santa Cruz, where he was a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellow. He holds additional graduate degrees in Earth Science, aerospace engineering and flight test engineering. His real-world experience in the science and intelligence communities adds next-level authenticdetails and a touch of hyper-realism to his work.
