Miles O`Brien is a veteran American broadcast news journalist who mainly specializes in science, technology, and aerospace. He was born on June 9, 1959, in Detroit, Michigan, United States. He grew up in Michigan. His father was a private pilot, so he was also interested in flying since an early age. He is also a third-generation general aviation pilot. Also, his paternal and maternal grandfathers were pilots.
O’Brien went to Georgetown University and graduated from there in History subject. He was offered his first broadcasting position with WRC-TV in Washington, DC in the year 1982. He later worked as a reporter and an anchor at TV stations in Boston, Massachusetts; Florida; Albany, New York; Tampa, and St. Joseph, Missouri. He started working for CNN in 1992.
At CNN O’Brien served as the correspondent for CNN’s science, space, aviation technology, and environment department. He also hosted different programs including Science and Technology Week, Live from CNN, Primetime and Headline News.
O’Brien covered all aspects of the United States Space Program for CNN which also included reports on the shuttle dockings at Mir, Hubble Space Telescope, landings on Mars, the winning of the Ansari X-Prize, the first space station launch from Kazakhstan, the tragic loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia and John Glenn`s return to space.
After years of negotiations, NASA had signed an agreement with CNN that, to make O’Brien the first journalist to fly on a space shuttle. O’Brien then followed with the investigation and successful return to flight.
O’Brien shot and wrote a one-hour documentary on the process of readying a space shuttle for a flight which was called "Terminal Count: What it Takes to Make the Space Shuttle Fly," in 2000, which was aired in May 2001. He was also the producer of the documentary.
O’Brien left CNN and formed his company called Miles O’Brien Productions, LLC in Washington, DC. It was an independent company which created stories for numerous outlets such as PBS, Discovery Science, Spaceflightnow.com, National Science Foundation and corporate clients. "Blueprint America" was one of his most appreciated and highly rated work for PBS that dealt with rebuilding American. It was rumored that he was fired from CNN.
In February 2014 a sad incident took place which left him injured when a filled with television equipment fell on his left forearm. It caused acute compartment syndrome which resulted in the amputation of his left arm above the elbow.
O`Brien is married to a woman named Sandra Forsett. The couple has two children named Miles and Connery who are of age 16 and 14 respectively. He is living a happy life along with his wife and children in Chevy Chase, Maryland so there is no chance of his divorce.
There were also rumors about him being gay, but it was proved false later. He loves swimming, Mountain biking, Carpentry, sailing, scuba diving and waterskiing in his free time. His salary has not been disclosed in media till date.
