Terry Virts
Terry Virts is a former NASA astronaut, U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, and commander of the International Space Station. Drawing on leadership lessons from spaceflight and extreme environments, he shares insights on teamwork, decision-making under pressure, and what it takes to perform at the highest level when the stakes are real.
Astro
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Photographer
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Entrepreneur
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Astro • Photographer • Entrepreneur •
More about Terry
Terry Virts retired from the space program after having achieved nearly everything he ever dreamed possible. This included serving in the U.S. Air Force as an F-16 fighter and test pilot, piloting the Space Shuttle Endeavour, serving as Commander for the International Space Station, and conducting three spacewalks during a 200-day mission in 2014 and 2015.
During his seven months in space, Terry led a multi-national team that included Russian Cosmonauts, U.S. and Italian Astronauts, during some of the tensest relations with Russia since the Cold War, and through 3 onboard accidents that resulted in an extended stay in space. While there, he took more than 300,000 photographs and hours of video—the most of any space mission before or since—from the Cupola of the ISS, which he had delivered to the craft during an earlier mission. These images form the backbone of the IMAX film, A Beautiful Planet, featuring Terry and narrated by Jennifer Lawrence. National Geographic published View from Above, a book featuring some of his best images alongside his reflections on spaceflight, stewardship of life on earth, and our place in the cosmos.
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A compelling speaker and regular contributing instructor at Harvard Business School, Terry shares his insights in a wide variety of venues, from Fortune 500 Board rooms to concert halls, to Title One schools. His latest book is How to Astronaut: Everything you need to know before leaving Earth.
Terry is currently running a campaign for the Democratic House Seat in Texas’s newly redrawn 9th Congressional District. His platform emphasizes affordability, support for working families, common-sense immigration reform, term limits, and reducing corporate influence in politics — leaning on his leadership background in the Air Force and NASA as evidence of his commitment to public service.
Speaking Topics
Leadership
Managing Change
Team Dynamics
Exploration
Overcoming Obstacles
Culture
Watch Terry in action
Presentations
How to Astronaut
From Top Gun fighter pilot to Space Shuttle Endeavor pilot and ISS commander, Terry Virts has mastered every aviation dream. During 200 days in space, he gained rare perspective on life on Earth, revealing its wonders, lessons NASA could have learned, and actionable insights. In How to Astronaut, Terry inspires audiences to push limits, lead boldly, and explore beyond.
Building World-Class Teams
Terry Virts retired from the space program after achieving nearly every aviation and space dream: F-16 fighter and test pilot, Space Shuttle Endeavour pilot, ISS commander, and three spacewalks during a 200-day mission. In this inspiring talk, he shares how to recruit, train, inspire, and grow high-performing teams—lessons forged at the edge of human possibility.
“I had never seen that shade of blue before. It was as if I had been raised in a black-and-white world and I was seeing color for the first time.”
– Terry Virts