Tim Dodd (born February 27, 1985), also known as the The Everyday Astronaut, is a science communicator, photographer, and musician. Dodd was hired by the website Spaceflight Now to photograph SpaceX’s Commercial Resupply Services three cargo mission to the International Space Station on April 18, 2014, NASA’s Orion Test Flight EFT-1 on December 5, 2014, the United States Air Force’s GPS 2F-9 launch, and NASA’s OA-6 Mission on March 23, 2016.

The Everyday Astronaut

While Dodd never wanted to be an astronaut during his childhood, he always had a deep interest in space. His bedroom included space-themed bed sheets, a Space Shuttle poster, and three Lego Space Shuttle sets. As an adult, he worked as a photographer, where his main source of income was in wedding photography. Dodd’s photography schedule allowed much free time, and he began using this free time to become involved in rocket photography.

In 2013, he purchased an orange Russian high-altitude flight suit in an online auction and later took photos of himself in the suit at a 2014 rocket launch in Cape Canaveral, Florida, as a joke. In late 2016, he grew dissatisfied with photography as his main means of employment, and continued to pursue his “Everyday Astronaut” internet persona on Instagram and Twitter. In 2017, he created a YouTube channel covering spaceflight education, and that became his primary occupation.

In 2019, Everyday Astronaut stickers were taken up to the International Space Station and photographed floating in the cupola. In early October 2019, he released exclusive video interviews with Elon Musk of SpaceX and NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine that trended on YouTube.