Alvin Drew

Alvin Drew
Born
Benjamin Alvin Drew

(1962-11-05) November 5, 1962 (age 61)
EducationUnited States Air Force Academy (BS)
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (MS)
Air University (MS)
Space career
NASA astronaut
RankColonel, USAF
Time in space
25d 13h[1]
SelectionNASA Group 18 (2000)
Total EVAs
2
Total EVA time
12h 48m
MissionsSTS-118
STS-133
Mission insignia

Benjamin Alvin Drew Jr. (born November 5, 1962) is a United States Air Force officer and a former NASA astronaut. He has been on two spaceflights; the first was the Space Shuttle mission STS-118 to the International Space Station, in August 2007.[2] Drew's second spaceflight took place in March 2011 on STS-133, another mission to the International Space Station. STS-133 was Space Shuttle Discovery's final mission. Drew took part in two spacewalks while docked to the station. Drew was the final African-American to fly on board a Space Shuttle, as the final two Space Shuttle missions, STS-134 and STS-135, had no African-American crew members.

Drew was selected to be an astronaut in NASA's Astronaut Group 18 in July 2000. Following his rookie spaceflight, Drew spent almost a year at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Center in Star City, Russia, overseeing NASA's training operations there as director of operations.

On February 28, 2011, Drew became the 200th person to walk in space, when he conducted the first spacewalk of the STS-133 mission with fellow astronaut Steve Bowen.[3]

  1. ^ "Astronauts and Cosmonauts (sorted by "Time in Space")". Spacefacts.de. Retrieved October 22, 2012.
  2. ^ "STS-118 mission summary". NASA. 2007. Archived from the original on February 3, 2003. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
  3. ^ William Harwood (February 28, 2011). "Spacewalk concludes with all objectives accomplished". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved March 1, 2011.