Tim Dodd

Tim Dodd was born in 1985.⁠[1]

In 2003 he graduated from Cedar Falls High School in Iowa.⁠[2]

He attended the University of Northern Iowa and said he left campus “very defeated” at 21; he has been a self-taught photographer since 2009.⁠[3]

In late 2013, while working mainly as a wedding photographer, he rekindled his interest in space and bought a Russian high-altitude flight suit for $330 in an aerospace memorabilia auction, at first planning only to hang it on his wall.⁠[4]

In 2014 he started Everyday Astronaut as an Instagram art project, photographing himself in the flight suit, and his love of spaceflight grew into an obsession.⁠[5]

In late March 2014 he was hired to photograph the launch of SpaceX’s CRS-3 cargo mission at Kennedy Space Center; he said the rocket, the first fitted with landing legs, dragged him into total obsession with spaceflight.⁠[4]

In 2015 the Everyday Astronaut visited Myanmar, where he taught children about space for two weeks; his images often hide “Easter eggs” about current space news.⁠[6]

In 2017 he gave up his job as a photographer to focus on Everyday Astronaut full time, creating educational videos and livestreams.⁠[7]

He has said that because Instagram was not the right platform to teach, he began posting long-form educational videos on YouTube in 2017, and in 2018 stopped wearing the space suit on camera to put the content first.⁠[8]

In 2019 Everyday Astronaut grew from just Tim into a team. The channel is known for hour-long documentary-style videos and has interviewed figures including SpaceX’s Elon Musk, former NASANASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the U.S. federal agency responsible for the civilian space program, aeronautics research and space science. Established by law in 1958 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., it has run programs including Mercury, the Apollo Moon landings, the Space Shuttle, the International Space Station and Artemis.Open the full entry Administrator Jim Bridenstine, and Rocket Lab’s Peter Beck.⁠[5]

In August 2021 he released a three-part tour of SpaceX’s Starbase facilities led by Elon Musk himself, covering Starship’s manufacturing challenges, Booster 4, and a lunar Starship mockup.⁠[9]

That month his channel passed one million subscribers; a self-described college dropout with no technical background, he raised $17,000 for The Challenger Center during a 12-hour livestream marathon.⁠[8]

By early September 2021 viewers had spent 29 million hours watching his videos; he was based in Cedar Falls and had built a studio in South Padre, Texas, near the SpaceX launch site.⁠[2]

Japanese entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa announced eight crew members and two backups for the dearMoon lunar flyby mission, including Dodd as a content creator, photographer, videographer, and musician; the plan called for a roughly seven-day flight around the Moon aboard SpaceX’s Starship.⁠[10]

He said he began making videos after SpaceX announced its lunar initiative in 2017; he answered the public call for applications in 2021 and went through interviews and medical checkups before being selected.⁠[11]

He appeared on episode 356 of the Lex FridmanLex FridmanLex Fridman is a Soviet-born, US-raised computer scientist and podcast host who works as an MIT research scientist on human-AI interaction and autonomous driving. His Lex Fridman Podcast is known for hours-long conversations with guests including heads of state and technology leaders.Open the full entry Podcast, discussing SpaceX rockets, Falcon 9, Starship, how rocket engines and engine cycles work, single-stage-to-orbit, the aerospike engine, and Starship’s orbital test.⁠[12]

Maezawa canceled dearMoon, saying it was still uncertain when Starship could launch; the project had been delayed indefinitely in November 2023.⁠[13]

He wrote on X that he was “extremely disappointed,” saying he would never have agreed had he known the project could end within a year and a half of its announcement, and that he had said even before the announcement that it was improbable within a few years.⁠[14]

Elon Musk gave him a tour of the Starfactory in Boca Chica, Texas, the day before Starship’s fourth test flight, discussing in the roughly hour-long video a goal of building up to 100 Starships a year and fully reusable rockets.⁠[15]

As of October 2026 he also hosted the podcast Spacewalk with Everyday Astronaut, answering listener questions on spaceflight news such as Starship test flights, Starliner, and New Glenn.⁠[16]

Personal website: Public link: https://everydayastronaut.com (opens in a new window)⁠[12]

X: Public account: https://x.com/Erdayastronaut (opens in a new window)⁠[5]

YouTube: Public channel: https://www.youtube.com/@EverydayAstronaut (opens in a new window)⁠[12]