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Miles O'Brien

About Miles

Miles O’Brien is a veteran, independent journalist who focuses on science, technology and aerospace.

He is the science correspondent for the PBS News Hour, a producer, director, writer and correspondent for the PBS documentary programs NOVA and FRONTLINE and an aviation analyst for CNN. He owns MOBIAS Media, Inc., a production company that creates award winning documentary films primarily for PBS as well as several educational and corporate clients.

For nearly seventeen of his thirty-nine years in the news business, he was a staff correspondent and anchor with CNN, based in Atlanta and New York. He served as the science, environment and aerospace correspondent and the anchor of various programs, including American Morning.

While at CNN, O’Brien secured a deal with NASA to become the first journalist to fly on the space shuttle. The project ended with the loss of Columbia and her crew in 2003 – a story he told to the world in a critically acclaimed sixteen-hour marathon of live coverage. He later served for ten years as a member of the NASA Advisory Council, offering strategic advice to the NASA administrator.

Prior to joining CNN, he worked as a reporter at television stations in St. Joseph, MO, Albany, NY, Tampa, FL and Boston. He began his television career as a desk assistant at WRC-TV in Washington, DC.

O’Brien is an accomplished pilot and is frequently called upon to explain the world of aviation to a mass audience.

He has won numerous awards over the years, including six Emmys, a Peabody and a DuPont.

He has produced, written and directed nine films for PBS NOVA: Mind of a Rampage Killer (2013), Manhunt Boston Bombers (2013), Megastorm Aftermath (2013), Why Planes Vanish (2014), Nuclear Meltdown Disaster (2015), Fifteen Years of Terror (2016), The Nuclear Option (2017), Inside the Megafire (2019) and The Great Electric Airplane Race (2021).

He also produced, wrote and directed FRONTLINE Coronavirus Pandemic (2020) and was a writer and correspondent for four FRONTLINES: Flying Cheap (2010), Flying Cheaper (2011), Nuclear Aftershocks (2012) and Dollars and Dentists (2012).

In February of 2014, a heavy equipment case fell on his 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, he has completed two marathons, several ultra-distance bike rides, a half Ironman, and has returned to flying airplanes.

Born in Detroit and raised in Grosse Pointe Farms, MI, he is based in Vero Beach, Florida. He was a history major at Georgetown University. Miles has two grown children. His son is a US Navy Lieutenant stationed in Catania, Italy and his daughter is a social worker in New York City.

Full Bio

Miles’s Recent Stories

Science Dec 05

Can humans become a multi-planet species?

NASA astrobiologist Chris McKay travels the most remote parts of Earth to understand how life might survive on other planets. But he’s also investigating another potential life form in space: humans. Can humans become a multi-planet species, he asks. Can…

Science Feb 12

The highest tech Cheez Whiz you’ve ever seen

3-D printers will never serve up a rare juicy steak, a baked potato or the salad the “Food-a-Rac-a-Cycle” can, but before too long, they might be able to produce “Earl Grey tea – hot,” as the Replicator does for Captain…

Science Jan 20

Scientists search for understanding of dark matter

At the bottom of a nickel mine near Sudbury, Ontario, scientists at one of the world's most sophisticated particle physics observatories are investigating one of the biggest mysteries of the cosmos: What is dark matter? Science correspondent Miles O'Brien helps…

Science Mar 13

Erin Brockovich: The Real-Life Unhappy Ending

On tonight's NewsHour, Miles O'Brien reports on the decline of Hinkley, Calif., the town featured in the movie Erin Brockovich. Here's the not-so-Hollywood version of what really happened in Hinkley and beyond.

Science Sep 19

The Return of the Gray Wolf

Science correspondent Miles O'Brien reports on the successful return of a once endangered species now caught in the crosshairs of cattle ranchers.

Science Jan 28

The day the world witnessed a nightmare

Editor's note: As we mark the 30th anniversary of the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, we return to this column by NewsHour science correspondent Miles O'Brien. This piece originally ran on Jan. 28, 2011. I was fast asleep when…

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