Alan Goodwin Poindexter

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Alan Poindexter
Alan Poindexter
Country: United States
Organization: NASA
selected on June 4, 1998
( 17th NASA Group )
Calls: 2 space flights
Start of the
first space flight: 		February 7, 2008
Landing of the
last space flight: 		April 20, 2010
Time in space: 27d 21h 09min
retired on December 10, 2010
Space flights

Alan Goodwin Poindexter (born November 5, 1961 in Pasadena , California , † July 1, 2012 in Pensacola , Florida ) was an American astronaut .

Life

education

Poindexter acquired in 1986 a Bachelor in aerospace engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and in 1995 a master as an aviation technician from the Naval Postgraduate School in California.

After receiving his bachelor's degree, Poindexter entered the US Navy and trained as a pilot in Florida. This was followed by training on F-14 Tomcat fighter jets . With the Fighter Squadron 211 he was sent twice to the Persian Gulf and flew missions during the Second Gulf War . He was then trained as a test pilot and worked on a digital control system for the F-14 at Patuxent River base in Maryland.

Astronaut activity

In June 1998, Poindexter was selected by NASA as a candidate for astronauts. After completing two years of basic training, he was head of the astronaut support team at the Kennedy Space Center .

STS-122

From summer 2006 Poindexter trained for his first space flight as a pilot of the shuttle mission STS-122 , which was carried out in February 2008. The main payload was the European Columbus space laboratory , which was docked with the International Space Station .

STS-131

On December 5, 2008 Poindexter was named as the commander for the STS-131 mission . It took off on April 5, 2010 and landed on April 20, 2010.

Completion of the astronaut career

On December 10, 2010, Poindexter left the NASA Astronaut Corps to serve as an instructor at his previous school, the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

Private

Poindexter, who was married with two children, was one of five sons of former US President Ronald Reagan's security advisor , USN Admiral John Poindexter . Alan Poindexter died on July 1, 2012 in a jet ski accident in Pensacola.

Awards

Selection of decorations, sorted based on the Order of Precedence of Military Awards :

See also

Web links

Commons : Alan G. Poindexter  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Retired Astronaut Dies In Pensacola Beach Jet Ski Accident
  2. ↑ NASA Assigns Astronaut Crews for Future Space Shuttle Missions. NASA, December 5, 2008, accessed December 7, 2008 .
  3. ^ STS-131 Mission Information. NASA, April 20, 2010, accessed April 2, 2010 .
  4. ↑ Astronaut Alan Poindexter Leaves NASA. NASA, December 13, 2010, accessed December 13, 2010 .
personal data
SURNAME Poindexter, Alan Goodwin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American astronaut
DATE OF BIRTH 5th November 1961
PLACE OF BIRTH Pasadena , California
DATE OF DEATH July 1, 2012
Place of death Pensacola , Florida