Miles O'Brien

Correspondent

Miles O’Brien is an Emmy award-winning filmmaker and veteran journalist who focuses on science, technology, and aerospace. He has written, produced, and directed numerous documentary films for NOVA, FRONTLINE, and the National Science Foundation’s Science Nation series. In addition, Miles is a producer and correspondent for the PBS NewsHour and an aviation analyst for CNN. For nearly seventeen years, Miles was a staff correspondent and anchor with CNN based in Atlanta and New York. While at CNN, he secured a deal with NASA to become the first journalist to fly on a space shuttle. The project was canceled, however, when Columbia and her crew were lost in 2003. Miles told the story of the disaster to the world in a critically acclaimed sixteen-hour marathon of live coverage. He is currently an at-large member of the NASA Advisory Council, offering strategic advice to the NASA administrator. In 2014, a heavy equipment case fell on Miles’s forearm while he was on assignment. He developed acute compartment syndrome, which necessitated the emergency amputation of his left arm above the elbow. Despite the loss of his arm, Miles continues to report on the latest scientific field research from all corners of the globe, whether it be the melting Denali Glacier or the Ebola hot zone of Western Africa. Not one to let anything hold him back, Miles is an avid sportsman and enjoys physical challenges. Since his accident, he has ridden numerous “century rides” on his bicycle, run two marathons, and finished a triathlon.