Christopher Michel

@christophermichel.com

Photographer. National Academies Artist in Residence. Former Navy. Founder of Military.com. Polar guide. Making portraits of people who move the world forward.

@christophermichel.com Oct 10, 2026, 6:46 PM

After 30 years at JPL, Kareem Badaruddin volunteered for one of the toughest jobs in space exploration: keeping Voyager 1 and 2 alive. Nearly 50 years after launch, these aging spacecraft are still sending messages home from billions of miles away.
explorers.com/kareem-badar...
@nasajpl.bsky.social

explorers.comKareem Badaruddin: Leading NASA's Voyager Mission InnovationMeet Kareem Badaruddin, NASA's Voyager mission manager, leading ingenuity in spacecraft engineering to sustain Voyager 1 and 2 for nearly 50 years.

@christophermichel.com Oct 8, 2026, 3:22 AM

thank you

@christophermichel.com Oct 8, 2026, 3:06 AM

Alone on a faraway beach. White water over dark sand, wind off the sea, the horizon lost in fog. Hard not to think of a dear friend who would have found a whole world in these few shades of gray, and made a more beautiful photograph of it.

@christophermichel.com Oct 7, 2026, 7:14 PM

Coastal California.

@christophermichel.com Oct 7, 2026, 3:00 AM

Les Éditions du Désastre. How long must we stand at the end before it becomes the beginning?

@christophermichel.com Oct 6, 2026, 8:27 PM

“So much mystery now finally seems on the brink of elucidation.”

@deisseroth.bsky.social, awarded the 2026 @nobelprize.org in Medicine. After years of photographing Karl, I’m so happy to see this day.

His story and downloadable portraits: explorers.com/karl-deisser...

@christophermichel.com Oct 6, 2026, 5:38 PM

Where the Cypress Fall. Fallen limbs hold their old twists, pale against the dark earth. There is something tender about this place, the way the forest keeps its dead. #SeaRanch #Photography

@christophermichel.com Oct 6, 2026, 5:19 PM

Join me for a walk? The fog is caught in the trees at Sea Ranch, and a little light still reaches the grass. We can take our time. I love how much there is to notice here, how a familiar path can feel different when you give it your full attention.

@christophermichel.com Oct 6, 2026, 2:24 PM

M42, the Orion Nebula, through a little fog at Sea Ranch.

@christophermichel.com Oct 5, 2026, 3:59 PM

Bob Pappalardo is the project scientist for NASA’s Europa Clipper, now crossing the solar system toward Jupiter.

explorers.com/robert-pappa...

explorers.comExploring Europa: The Journey Toward Potential Life Beyond EarthExplore Bob Pappalardo's journey from a curious child to a NASA scientist studying Europa's ocean, geology, and habitability potential.

@nasonline.org Oct 5, 2026, 3:13 PMReposted by @christophermichel.com

Congratulations to #NASmembers Karl Deisseroth and Peter Hegemann on receiving the 2026 #NobelPrize in Physiology or Medicine! They are honored alongside Georg Nagel for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.

Left photo by @christophermichel.com

@christophermichel.com Oct 5, 2026, 1:10 PM

Dr @deisseroth.bsky.social is a remarkable writer and a devoted physician. Today, he's a @nobelprize.org laureate. Congratulations, Karl!

Photographed for New Heroes. Portrait and story: explorers.com/karl-deisser...

@nationalacademies.org @nasonline.org

explorers.comExploring the Mind: Karl Deisseroth's Journey in NeuroscienceDiscover the profound insights of Karl Deisseroth, a pioneer in neuroscience and psychiatry, exploring the brain's mysteries and mental health intervention.

@christophermichel.com Oct 5, 2026, 4:11 AM

Robert Reich has spent more than fifty years asking a simple question: Who is the economy actually working for?

I had the great pleasure of making his portrait in Berkeley.

explorers.com/robert-reich/ @rbreich.bsky.social

@carolynporco.bsky.social Sep 11, 2026, 5:00 PMReposted by @christophermichel.com

Isn't this pic a stunner!?

We at CICLOPS made a video of this flyby that blew everyone away. Check it out!

ciclops.org/s3.amazonaws...

Caption: ciclops.org/view/3803/Fl...

Enjoy!!
🧪📰🛰️

European Space History@eurospacehistory.bsky.socialSep 11, 2026, 12:26 PM

#ThisWeek in 2007, the NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini spacecraft took this close-up of saturnian moon Iapetus on 10 September. This mountainous terrain reaches 10 km in height along the unique equatorial ridge of the moon 🧪🔭 www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed... @science.esa.int @carolynporco.bsky.social @esa.int

This stunning close-up shows mountainous terrain reaching about 10 km in height along the unique equatorial ridge of Iapetus. The view was acquired during Cassini's only close flyby of the two-toned Saturn moon.
Above the middle of the image can be seen a place where an impact has exposed the bright ice beneath the dark overlying material. Image scale is 23 m per pixel (pic: NASA/JPL/SSI)

ciclops.org

@christophermichel.com Oct 4, 2026, 1:43 PM

Scott Bolton, principal investigator of NASA’s Juno mission, helped send a spacecraft to Jupiter. When they arrived, the planet confounded expectations. More: explorers.com/scott-bolton/

@swri.org @nationalacademies.org
@nasajpl.bsky.social

@christophermichel.com Oct 4, 2026, 2:53 AM

Hot Havana afternoons seem to stretch forever.

@christophermichel.com Oct 3, 2026, 11:32 PM

People I admire: Mack Tilling. Mack’s Finest Gelato in Park City is getting a reputation as the nation’s best gelato. If you’re in Park City, stop by Mack’s Finest on Bonanza Drive. One spoonful and you’ll understand what all the fuss is about.

@christophermichel.com Oct 3, 2026, 10:05 PM

Tony Hawk, in a rare moment of stillness.

I grew up watching him make the impossible look almost casual. Decades later, he’s still pushing, still skating, still unmistakably himself.

explorers.com/tony-hawk/

@christophermichel.com Oct 3, 2026, 1:44 PM

Melancholia on the Moscow subway. Everyone together, everyone somewhere else. A whole carriage of people moving through the dark, each caught inside their own small world.

@christophermichel.com Oct 3, 2026, 1:24 PM

I’m deeply inspired by the kick-ass engineers at @nasajpl.bsky.social.

If you can imagine it, they can build it.

Autumn Lui stands in front of a model of the MoonFall moon drone. A machine for a place with no air, no easy footing, and no room for mistakes.

More explorers.com/autumn-lui/

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