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Benjamin Alvin Drew |
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Benjamin Alvin Drew |
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PERSONAL DATA: Born November 5, 1962 in Washington, DC. His parents, Muriel and Benjamin Drew, Sr., reside in Fort Washington, Maryland. EDUCATION: 1980 High School Diploma from Gonzaga College High School in ORGANIZATIONS: Society of Experimental Test Pilots, American Helicopter Society, Association of Space Explorers. EXPERIENCE: Upon graduation from the United States Air Force Academy, Drew entered the U.S. Air Force as a Second Lieutenant in May 1984. He completed Undergraduate Helicopter Pilot Training - at Fort Rucker, Alabama, earning a helicopter qualification and his pilot wings in March 1985. His initial assignment was as a combat rescue helicopter pilot from 1985 to 1987. In 1987, he transitioned into USAF special operations. There flew 60 combat missions in operations over Panama (1989), the Persian Gulf (1990-1991) and Northern Iraq (1991-1992). In 1992, he returned to flight training – first obtaining a rating in jet aircraft in April 1993, and then, becoming a test pilot, at the United States Naval Test Pilot School in June 1994. He subsequently worked as a project test pilot, commanded two flight test organizations, and served on the U.S. Air Force’s Air Combat Command staff. He is a Command Pilot with more than 25 years and 3,500 hours flying experience, piloting 30 different types of aircraft. NASA EXPERIENCE: Selected as a mission specialist by NASA in July 2000, Drew reported for training in August 2000. Following the completion of two years of training and evaluation, he was initially assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Station Operations Branch. From January-November 2009 he served as Director of Operations at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia. He has logged over 305 hours in space having completed his first space flight on STS-118 in 2007. Drew is currently assigned as a crewmember for STS-133. SPACE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE: STS-118 (August 8 -21, 2007) was the 119th space shuttle flight, the 22nd flight to the station, and the 20th flight for Endeavour. During the mission Endeavour's crew successfully added another truss segment, a new gyroscope and external spare parts platform to the International Space Station. A new system that enables docked shuttles to draw electrical power from the station to extend visits to the outpost was activated successfully. A total of four spacewalks (EVAs) were performed by three crew members. Endeavour carried some 5,000 pounds of equipment and supplies to the station and returned to Earth with some 4,000 pounds of hardware and no longer needed equipment. Traveling 5.3 million miles in space, the STS-118 mission was completed in 12 days, 17 hours, 55 minutes and 34 seconds. |
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