Matthew Dominick

Did You Know?

• Matthew Dominick was born on December 7, 1981, in Wheat Ridge, Colorado.
• He was selected as a NASA astronaut in June 2017 as part of NASA Astronaut Group 22, while at sea on the USS Ronald Reagan CVN-76.
• During his time on the ISS, his photography of weather phenomena, storms, spacecraft, and everyday station life garnered media attention.
• He was the 2015 Naval Test Wing Atlantic Test Pilot of the Year and a member of the 2015 Department of the Navy Test Team of the Year.

Military career

Matthew Dominick was commissioned as an Ensign in the USN after graduating from the University of San Diego. He attended Primary Flight Training at NAS Pensacola and was designated a Naval Aviator in 2007. He completed F/A-18 Super Hornet training with VFA-106 at NAS Oceana, then joined VFA-143. With VFA-143, he completed two deployments in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He was selected for the United States Naval Test Pilot School (USNTPS) / Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) co-operative program, earning a Master of Science in Systems Engineering from NPS and attending USNTPS. After graduation, he was designated a test pilot and assigned to VX-23 at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. There, he served as a developmental flight test project officer on programs including MAGIC CARPET, Joint Precision Approach & Landing Systems, and Infrared Search and Track Pod. He also contributed to the development of the X-47B, V-22 Osprey, E-2C Hawkeye, and F-35C Lightning II. At the time of his astronaut selection, he was serving as Department Head with VFA-115, based out of Atsugi, Japan. His promotion to Navy commander was approved on June 27, 2019 and made effective on September 1, 2020.