# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/michael-j-smith-q25981
# Generated: 2026-08-14T13:38:12.386Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/michael-j-smith-q25981"
name: "Michael J. Smith"
slug: "michael-j-smith-q25981"
description: "Michael John Smith, was an American engineer and astronaut. He served as the pilot of the Space Shuttle Challenger when it was destroyed during the STS-51-L mission, breaking up 73 seconds into the flight, and at an altitude of 48,000 feet (14.6 km), killing all seven crew members. Smith's voice was the last one heard on the Challenger voice recorder."
tagline: "American astronaut (1945-1986)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Michael_Smith_(NASA).jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "United States"
  isoCode: "US"
profileType:
  name: "Other"
  slug: "other"
birthDate: "1945-04-30"
deathDate: "1986-01-28"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           53.52
  momentum:             0
  historical:           20.63825333333333
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  60
  trendDirection:       "FALLING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
sources:
  - url: "https://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_J._Smith"
    title: "Michael J. Smith"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://af.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_J._Smith"
    title: "Michael J. Smith"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%8A%D9%83%D9%84_%D8%B3%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%AB_(%D8%B6%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%B7)"
    title: "مايكل سميث (ضابط)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%8A%D9%83%D9%84_%D8%B3%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%AB_(%D8%B6%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%B7_%D8%A8%D8%AD%D8%B1%D9%89_%D9%85%D9%86_%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%83%D8%A7)"
    title: "مايكل سميث (ضابط بحرى من امريكا)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BA%D0%BB_%D0%94%D0%B6%D0%BE%D0%BD_%D0%A1%D0%BC%D1%96%D1%82"
    title: "Майкл Джон Сміт"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BA%D1%8A%D0%BB_%D0%A1%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%82_(%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%B2%D1%82)"
    title: "Майкъл Смит (астронавт)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_John_Smith"
    title: "Michael John Smith"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Smith_(astronaut)"
    title: "Michael Smith (astronaut)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Smith"
    title: "Michael Smith"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_John_Smith"
    title: "Michael John Smith"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_J._Smith"
    title: "Michael J. Smith"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Smith_(astronauta)"
    title: "Michael Smith (astronauta)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_J._Smith"
    title: "Michael J. Smith"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%A7%DB%8C%DA%A9%D9%84_%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%86_%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%85%DB%8C%D8%AA"
    title: "مایکل جان اسمیت"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_J._Smith"
    title: "Michael J. Smith"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_J._Smith"
    title: "Michael J. Smith"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_J._Smith"
    title: "Michael J. Smith"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_John_Smith"
    title: "Michael John Smith"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hy.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D5%84%D5%A1%D5%B5%D6%84%D5%AC_%D5%8B%D5%B8%D5%B6_%D5%8D%D5%B4%D5%AB%D5%A9"
    title: "Մայքլ Ջոն Սմիթ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_J._Smith"
    title: "Michael J. Smith"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_John_Smith"
    title: "Michael John Smith"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%9E%E3%82%A4%E3%82%B1%E3%83%AB%E3%83%BBJ%E3%83%BB%E3%82%B9%E3%83%9F%E3%82%B9"
    title: "マイケル・J・スミス"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://jv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_J._Smith_(antariksawan)"
    title: "Michael J. Smith (antariksawan)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ka.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%83%9B%E1%83%90%E1%83%98%E1%83%99%E1%83%9A_%E1%83%AF%E1%83%9D%E1%83%9C_%E1%83%A1%E1%83%9B%E1%83%98%E1%83%97%E1%83%98"
    title: "მაიკლ ჯონ სმითი"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://mg.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_J._Smith"
    title: "Michael J. Smith"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25981"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Imported from discovery source: wikidata-dump