Drew Feustel | |
|---|---|
 Feustel in 2007 | |
| Born | Andrew Jay Feustel (1965-08-25)August 25, 1965 (age 60) Lancaster, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Status | Retired |
| Education | Oakland Community College (AS) Purdue University (BS,MS) Queen's University (PhD) |
| Space career | |
| NASA astronaut | |
Time in space | 225 days, 9 hours, 16 minutes |
| Selection | NASA Group 18 (2000) |
TotalEVAs | 9 |
Total EVA time | 61 hours, 48 minutes[1][2] |
| Missions | |
Mission insignia |     |
| Retirement | July 31, 2023 |
Andrew Jay "Drew" Feustel (/ˈfɔɪstəl/; born August 25, 1965) is a former American/CanadianNASAastronaut andgeophysicist. Following several years working as a geophysicist, Feustel was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in July 2000. He is the veteran of 3 space flights with NASA.[3] His firstspaceflight in May 2009,STS-125, lasted just under 13 days.[4][5] This mission was the fifth and final mission to service theHubble Space Telescope, aboardSpace ShuttleAtlantis. Feustel performed threespacewalks during the mission.[6] His second spaceflight wasSTS-134, which launched on May 16, 2011 to deliver theAlpha Magnetic Spectrometer to theInternational Space Station (ISS) and was the final flight ofSpace Shuttle Endeavour and was the penultimate flight of theSpace Shuttle program. Feustel returned to the ISS on March 21, 2018 aboardSoyuz MS-08, to serve as a member ofExpedition 55 and was the ISS Commander duringExpedition 56. After returning to Earth, he became the DeputyChief of the NASA Astronaut Office in 2020, and served as acting Chief Astronaut starting in November 2022. Feustel retired from NASA in July 2023.
Feustel was born inLancaster, Pennsylvania.[4][7] He grew up inLake Orion, Michigan, where he graduated fromLake Orion High School in 1983, and received anAssociate of Science degree fromOakland Community College in 1985. He then attendedPurdue University, where he was a member ofSigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and received both aBachelor of Science degree in solid earth sciences in 1989 and aMaster of Science degree in geophysics in 1991. He then moved toOntario, Canada to attendQueen's University, where he received hisPhD ingeological sciences in 1995.[4]
While attending community college, Feustel worked as an auto mechanic at International Autoworks, Ltd.,Farmington Hills, Michigan, restoring 1950sJaguars.[4] At Purdue University, Feustel served as a Residence Hall Counselor for two years at Cary Quadrangle for the Purdue University Student Housing organization. His summers were spent working as a commercial and industrialglazier near his home in Michigan. During his master's degree studies Feustel worked as a Research Assistant and Teaching Assistant in the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Department of Purdue University. His M.S. thesis investigated physical property measurements of rock specimens under elevated hydrostatic pressures simulating Earth's deep crustal environments. While at Purdue, Feustel served for three years asGrand Prix Chairman and team Kart driver for Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity.[4] In 1991, Feustel moved toKingston, Ontario, Canada to attend Queen's University where he worked as a Graduate Research Assistant and Graduate Teaching Assistant. Feustel's Ph.D. thesis investigatedseismic wave attenuation in underground mines and measurement techniques and applications to site characterization.[4]
For three years, Feustel worked as a geophysicist for theEngineering Seismology Group, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, installing and operatingmicroseismic monitoring equipment in underground mines throughout Eastern Canada and the United States. In 1997, he began working for the Exxon Exploration Company (nowExxonMobil Exploration Company),Houston, Texas, as an exploration geophysicist designing and providing operational oversight of land, marine, andboreholeseismic programs worldwide.[4] He worked in industry for five years before joining NASA.
In July 2000, Feustel was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA. He reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 2000, where he began NASA's two-year training program, training as amission specialist. After his initial training, he worked in technical roles the Astronaut Office Space Shuttle and Space Station Branches.[3]
Feustel's subsequent NASA Astronaut training includes: Field Medical Training, Field Maintenance Training,NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operation (NEEMO) X in the Aquarius Habitat in Key Largo, Florida; CAVES in Sardinia, Italy;National Outdoor Leadership School training in Alaska and Mexico; Winter Survival Training with theCanadian Armed Forces;Desert RATS in Arizona; Geotechnical Studies inAntarctica; and DeepWorker Submersible Pilot Training. He is qualified as a Space Shuttle and Space Station Robotic Arm Operator,Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM), and Instructor Astronaut forExtravehicular activity (EVA) training at theNeutral Buoyancy Laboratory.[3]
In July 2006, Feustel served as anaquanaut during theNEEMO 10 mission aboard theAquariusunderwater laboratory, living and working underwater for seven days.[8] In October 2006, Feustel was announced as a crew member forSTS-125, the final Hubble servicing mission by the Space Shuttle. STS-125 launched on May 11, 2009.[5]
In 2013, Feustel served as cavenaut into theESA CAVES[9] training inSardinia, alongsideSoichi Noguchi,Andreas Mogensen,Nikolai Tikhonov,David Saint-Jacques andMichael Fincke.
Feustel's first mission wasSTS-125, which was successfully launched to repair theHubble Space Telescope on May 11, 2009. On this mission, Feustel was amission specialist, and performed threespacewalks to help repair the telescope itself.[7] During the mission, Feustel accumulated a total EVA time of twenty hours and thirty eight minutes. He took with him a copy of "Cosmic Songs" (1878) by the Czech poetJan Neruda andEmm Gryner's albumAsianblue.[10]
Feustel was a mission specialist on theSTS-134 mission, during which he performed three more spacewalks.[11] During this mission Feustel took a soft toy of the cartoon characterMole to space. In July 2011 Feustel and his family flew toCzech Republic to give that Mole to his creator the Czech animator and illustratorZdeněk Miler.[12] He was very happy and thanked Feustel with an artwork of him. Just four months later Miler died at the age of 90 years.
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Feustel returned to space on launching on March 21, 2018[13] for a six month[14] stay duringExpedition 55/56. He served as a flight engineer on Expedition 55, and then became theInternational Space Station (ISS) commander of Expedition 56.[15] He returned to Earth on October 4, 2018.
On March 29, 2018, Feustel performed the first EVA of his mission with crewmateRicky Arnold. They installed wireless communications equipment on the station's Tranquility module to enhance payload data processing for theECOSTRESS experiment (Ecosystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station). They also swapped out high-definition video cameras on the port truss of the station's backbone and removed aging hoses from a cooling component on the station's truss. The duration of the spacewalk was 6 hours and 10 minutes.
Feustel became the DeputyChief of the NASA Astronaut Office in 2020, and served as acting Chief Astronaut starting in November 2022 afterReid Wiseman stepped down to return as an active duty astronaut. In February, 2023Joseph Acaba was appointed Chief, with Feustel remaining on as his deputy.
After working for NASA for 23 years, Drew Feustel announced his retirement from the agency in July 2023.[16] In December of that year,Vast, a space station manufacturer, announced that Feustel would join their team as an advisor.[17]
Feustel is married to Indira Devi Feustel (née Bhatnagar). Andrew and Indira met asundergraduates at the beginning of Indira's master's degree at Purdue University inWest Lafayette, Indiana; they have two sons. He enjoysautomobile restoration,skiing andguitar, and is a member of the astronaut bandMax Q.[4]
This article incorporatespublic domain material from websites or documents of theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration.
| Preceded by | ISS Commander (Expedition 56) 1 June to 3 October 2018 | Succeeded by |
NASA Astronaut Group 17 ← NASA Astronaut Group 18 →NASA Astronaut Group 19 | |||||||
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