- On June 14, 2005, Dr. John L. Phillips became the first person in history to deliver Congressional testimony from space. He spoke to the House Science Committee's Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics from the International Space Station, 218 miles above Earth, briefing the committee members on his work aboard the space station.
- Graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1972 and was designated a Naval Aviator in November 1974.
- A specialist in the plasma environments of the sun, Earth, other planets, comets and spacecraft, from 1993 through 1996 Phillips was Principal Investigator for the Solar Wind Plasma Experiment aboard the Ulysses Spacecraft as it executed a unique trajectory over the poles of the sun.
- American astronaut John L. Phillips arranged to take a pair of wedding bands during a 2005 mission to outer space. The rings were purchased by Dr. Phillips and his wife Laura for their 25th wedding anniversary with plans to renew their wedding vows; the rings would have traveled 92,000,000 miles when he returned from his 6-month stint on the International Space Station serving as Science Officer and Flight Engineer, from April to October 2005. Phillips did not bring the rings aboard himself; they reached the Space Station a month before he did, having been carried on an unpiloted Russian cargo spacecraft with 2.3 tons of other supplies and equipment.
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