Drew Feustel
BS solid earth sciences ’89
MS Geophysics ’91
Born: 1965
Missions: STS-125, 134, Expedition 55/56
Astronaut and geophysicist Andrew Feustel is a veteran of three NASA spaceflights.
Drew Feustel NASA Bio
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In 2009, Feustel served on the final space shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, STS-125 Atlantis. The mission successfully extended and improved the observatory’s capabilities. Feustel logged nearly 13 days in space on the mission and performed three spacewalks totaling 20 hours and 58 minutes.
He was a mission specialist in 2011 for STS-134, the final spaceflight of space shuttle Endeavour. The mission delivered important materials to the International Space Station and conducted additional tests.
In 2018, Feustel joined fellow Purdue grad Scott Tingle on the space station as a flight engineer for Expedition 55, then commanded Expedition 56, where he became the person (astronaut or cosmonaut) having spent the third most time on spacewalks. In total, Feustel has completed nine extravehicular activities for a total of 61 hours, 48 minutes. During Expedition 55/56, Feustel and his crewmates worked on approximately 250 science investigations in fields such as biology, earth science, human research, physical sciences and technology development.
Feustel received an honorary doctorate from Purdue in a most unique way. During the 2018 Spring Commencement ceremonies, Purdue connected live to the space station, where Feustel and Tingle were both stationed at the time. Tingle placed the hood on Feustel, and Gary Horlacher (BS interdisciplinary engineering ’89), a NASA flight director and another Purdue engineering graduate, served as the honorary capsule communicator at Johnson Space Center for the link with the space station.
In April 2018, Feustel and Tingle both played guitar inside the space station’s Destiny laboratory module during an educational event with school districts in Aransas Pass, Texas.
Feustel retired from NASA in July 2023.
As a Purdue student, Feustel served as a residence hall counselor for two years at Cary Quadrangle and spent three years as Grand Prix chairman and team kart driver for Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity. As a graduate student, he worked as a research assistant and teaching assistant in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.
