Josef F. Schmid (born 6 July 1965) is a German-American physician, NASA flight surgeon and a major general in the United States Air Force Reserves. He served as an aquanaut on the joint NASA-NOAA NEEMO 12 underwater exploration mission in May 2007. On 8 October 2021 he became one of the first humans to be Holoported off the planet and into space, visiting the International Space Station by telepresence. Education Schmid was born in Stuttgart, West Germany. He graduated from Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, North Carolina, in 1988 with an Honors degree in biology. While at Belmont Abbey College, Schmid was a summer intern at NASA. He received his medical degree from Wake Forest University School of Medicine in 1992. He completed his family practice residency at David Grant USAF Medical Center and then served tours in Okinawa, Japan, and Frankfurt, Germany. Following his active duty Air Force service, Schmid then obtained his Master of public health degree in 2001 and an aerospace medicine residency at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, Texas. Schmid is board certified and a fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians. He lives in Houston, Texas and is married. Honors and awards Schmid's special honors and awards include: Fellow, American Academy of Family Physicians NASA Group Awards for Flight Medicine Clinic, Electronic Medical Record Development and Space Medicine Training NASA Individual Performance Awards Tom McNish USAF Reserves National Physician Recruiting Award USAF Health Professions Scholarship Program Recipient Belmont Abbey Anne Horne Little Scholarship Recipient Defense Superior Service Medal Air Force Meritorious Service Medal Air Force Commendation Medal Air Force Achievement Medal Air Force Outstanding Unit Medals Various other military service and campaign awards 2008 Belmont Abbey College Wall of Fame Honoree NASA career Schmid served as the deputy crew surgeon for the STS-116, which was completed in December 2006. His duties during shuttle missions included the primary care and medical certification for those assigned astronauts, medical training of the shuttle crew medical officers and crew and medical support during shuttle launch and landing. He also staffed the shuttle surgeon console in Mission Control during missions, where he monitored physiologic data during extravehicular activities (EVA) and provided real-time telemedicine via private medical conferences directly with the crew. Schmid held shuttle Mission Control console certification and currently holds International Space Station surgeon console certification. Schmid flies as a T-38 crewmember and has