Andrew J. Feustel

BS ’89, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, Purdue University
MS ’91, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, Purdue University
PhD ’95, Geological Sciences, Queen’s University

"I became interested in geology while attending Oakland Community College prior to arriving at Purdue. I believed that one day I might be able to use that interest and education to explore other planets."

Prior to being selected as a Mission Specialist by NASA, Andrew J. Feustel worked as a geophysicist for the Engineering Seismology Group, installing and operating micro seismic monitoring equipment. He began working for the Exxon Mobil Exploration Company in 1997 as an exploration geophysicist.

Feustel began training for his first NASA mission in August 2000. He served on the crew of STS-125 Atlantis, the final space shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope in May 2009. The mission extended and improved the observatory’s capabilities through 2014. During his first mission, he logged nearly 13 days in space, including 21 hours of spacewalking.

Currently, he is assigned to the crew of STS-134 to the International Space Station. During the mission planned for late July 2010, astronauts aboard space shuttle Endeavor will deliver the Alpha magnetic spectrometer, a state-of-the-art cosmic ray particle physics detector designed to examine fundamental issues about matter and the origin and structure of the universe.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

• 2009 - Served aboard STS-125, NASA’s final mission to the Hubble Space Telescope
• 2000 - Selected by NASA as Mission Specialist
• 1997 - Began career with Exxon Mobil Exploration Company as an exploration geophysicist