Andrew “Drew” Feustel is an American astronaut and geophysicist from Lake Orion, Michigan, with a doctorate in geological sciences specialising in seismology. Selected by NASA in 2000, he completed three spaceflights, spending approximately 226 days in space. His first mission, STS-125 aboard Atlantis (11–24 May 2009), lasted 12 days, 21 hours and 37 minutes and involved servicing the Hubble Space Telescope. His second, STS-134 aboard Endeavour (16 May–1 June 2011), lasted 15 days, 17 hours and 38 minutes and delivered scientific equipment to the International Space Station (ISS). During Expeditions 55/56 (21 March–4 October 2018), he spent approximately 197 days in space and served as ISS commander during Expedition 56.

Feustel completed nine spacewalks, totalling 61 hours and 48 minutes, and held senior leadership roles in NASA’s Astronaut Office before retiring in July 2023. He joined Vast as an advisor that December and now serves as Lead Astronaut, contributing his experience to the development of commercial space stations.

Through his wife Indira, who has Czech roots, Feustel developed a connection to the Czech Republic that he has carried into orbit. On STS-125 he flew a copy of Jan Neruda’s poetry collection Cosmic Songs (Písně kosmické). On STS-134, he took a Krteček (the Little Mole), created by Zdeněk Miler, into space to inspire children’s interest in science, mathematics and technology. A smaller Krteček accompanied him again during Expeditions 55/56, alongside Moon Landscape, a drawing by Petr Ginz, the Czech teenager killed at Auschwitz in 1944. Both Krteček journeys supported the educational programme “Do kosmu s Krtkem” (“Into Space with the Little Mole”), introducing children to spaceflight and life aboard the ISS.