Editor’s note: This is the first in a nine-part, monthly installment on the travels of astronaut Dr. Andrew Feustel, presented by guest writer Matt Phillips? Look for more articles in The Review as Feustel gets set for his mission aboard the Atlantis.
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By Matt Phillips
Special to The Review
Have you ever dreamt of being able to travel to outer space? Whether your image is that of Neil Armstrong or John Glenn, or perhaps even Luke Skywalker or Flash Gordon, the possibility of traveling through space in a rocket and floating in a weightless environment is intriguing to the adventurous spirit in each one of us.
While most of us carry this dream, one local man has made that dream a reality.
Dr. Andrew Feustel, a 1983 graduate of Lake Orion High School, is set to lift off for an 11-day mission aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis on August 28, 2008.
According to Feustel, his dreams of becoming an astronaut started when he was young.
‘It was certainly an early childhood ambition,? he said adding it is really ‘a dream come true.?
Feustel was born in 1965 in Lancaster, PA, and shortly thereafter his family relocated to Lake Orion. He attended Oakland Christian schools before transferring to Lake Orion Junior High West (which is now Waldon Middle School) in the ninth grade.
Upon graduation from LOHS, Feustel earned an Associate’s Degree from OCC. He then attended Purdue University, where he earned a BS degree in Solid Earth Sciences and an MS Degree in Geophysics.
In 1991, Feustel moved to Ontario, Canada where he attended Queen’s University and earned his PhD in Earth Sciences in 1995.
For three years after graduation, Feustel worked as a Geophysicist, installing and operating microseismic monitoring equipment throughout the U.S. and Canada. This experience led to a position with Exxon Mobil where he oversaw seismic programs worldwide.
Feustel’s boyhood dream began to take shape during the astronaut selection process in 1999. This selection process started with over 3,500 applicants, and Feustel was one of only 17 chosen to continue their dream.
After another 12 months of intense physical and mental endurance training exercises that are part of the astronaut candidate program, Feustel officially became a mission specialist; a real astronaut.
Since that point, Feustel has partaken in more specific training, leading to the point when he was officially selected to be part of a seven-person team for Mission STS-125; the final mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.
‘I’ll spend three days outside in my spacesuit repairing the space telescope with the latest and greatest so that it will last another eight years or so,? he said.
Dr. Feustel and his wife, Indira, have two sons and currently reside in Houston, Texas.
While most of our astronaut heroes only exist in books, on TV and in movies, Lake Orion can now boast that the journey that took Feustel to space began right here in our town.
From walking down the hallways of Lake Orion High School to walking out of the shuttle and into space, Dr. Andrew Feustel is local proof that with hard work and determination dreams can come true. Who says that ‘the sky? has to be the limit?
For more information about Dr. Feustel and other NASA programs, please visit www.nasa.gov.
Stay with The Review in April to see how Feustel came to NASA.