Commander Alan Poindexter is a 1983 PJC graduate who will lead the STS-131 mission to the International Space Station aboard space shuttle Discovery.
Poindexter earned his wings at NAS Pensacola in 1988. He is married to former Lisa A. Pfeiffer of Gulf Breeze and has two children.
Selected by NASA in June 1998, He reported for training in August 1998. Initially Poindexter served in the Astronaut Office Shuttle Operations Branch performing duties as the lead support astronaut at Kennedy Space Center.
It wasn’t until the STS-122 Atlantis (February 7-20, 2008) for Poindexters first flight, where he logged over 306 hours in space.
He carried on flight a PJC medallion, which was returned to PJC after the mission. Poindexter also recieved a second medallion from PJC for his accomplishment.
Poindexter served as the Pilot for STS-122. Although the STS-131 is his second flight to space, he is now serving as Commander.
“I’ll manually fly the rendezvous with the space station and do the docking and also land the vehicle at the end of the mission,” he said.
AWARDS: NASA Aviation Safety Award, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Combat V, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, various other service awards.
SPECIAL HONORS Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division Test Pilot of the Year 1996; Top Ten Carrier Aviator, Carrier Airwing Nine.