By Josephine Norris, Photo Editor.
Meeting a retired astronaut is a rare occurrence, but meeting an active duty astronaut who is heading back to space is a once in a lifetime experience.
Delta College gave members of the Great Lakes Bay region the opportunity to meet astronaut Andrew J. Feustel. Feustel spoke with audiences about his adventures beyond earth. Feustel has been in outer space twice and is starting training soon for a third visit where he will be for six months.
“I’ve always believed I would be an astronaut,” Feustel shared with audiences. Feustel is a Michigan native and Oakland Community College graduate where he studied mechanics and uses those skills as an astronaut. He advised audience members to take what they’re good at and use those skills and that knowledge to help them power their careers.
The event offered three different opportunities for members of the community to meet and hear from Feustel. During the afternoon of April 21 Feustel spoke with Delta geology, physics and astronomy students at the Delta College Planetarium and answered questions they had about becoming an astronaut, as well as his work for NASA.
In the evening, Feustel gave a presentation to an audience of community members in downtown Bay City at the State Theater. In the presentation, he shared photos and video of his missions to space and a sense of what life as an astronaut looks like. Following the presentation, Feustel fielded questions from the audience and shared more about his experiences as an astronaut.
On the morning of April 22, students from nine different local schools filled the State Theater to listen to Feustel share some of his adventures as an astronaut. Logan Newkirk, 9, a third grader at Bay City Academy shared that he was excited to be there and liked “hearing about him doing stuff in space. I like space because it’s not like normal air – you can float around and stuff.”
