Alan G. Poindexter

  • STS- 122 (2008)
  • STS- 131 (2010)

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

Life

Training

Poindexter earned a bachelor's degree in 1986 in aeronautics and aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1995 and a master's degree in aeronautical engineer from the Naval Postgraduate School in California.

After receiving his Bachelor's degree, Poindexter joined the U.S. Navy and was trained in Florida for pilots. There followed a training on fighter jets of the type F-14 Tomcat. With the Fighter Squadron 211, he was sent twice to the Persian Gulf and flew missions during the first Gulf War. He was then trained as a test pilot and worked on the Station Patuxent River in Maryland on a digital control system for the F- 14th

Astronauts activity

In June 1998, Poindexter was selected by NASA as an astronaut candidate. After the two-year basic training, he was head of the astronaut support team at Kennedy Space Center.

STS -122

From the summer of 2006 Poindexter trained for his first space flight as pilot of the shuttle mission STS -122, which was conducted in February 2008. Main payload was the European Columbus laboratory, which was docked at the International Space Station.

STS -131

On 5 December 2008, Poindexter was named as commander of mission STS -131. The launch took place on April 5, 2010, the landing on April 20, 2010.

Completion of the astronauts career

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

Private

Poindexter, who was married and had two children, was one of five sons of former security advisor to U.S. President Ronald Reagan, John Poindexter. Alan Poindexter died July 1, 2012 following a jet ski accident in Pensacola.

Awards

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

STS-122 STS-131 Pensacola (Florida) Grumman F-14 Tomcat Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)
40616
de