Campus Life

Meet An Aggie Astronaut At SXSW

March 1, 2018

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By Sam Peshek, Texas A&M University Marketing & Communications

SXSW conference-goers will have the opportunity to meet two Aggie astronauts at the Texas A&M Discovery Lounge Tuesday, March 13 in the Brazos Ballroom of the Courtyard Marriott in downtown Austin from 2-4 p.m.

Colonel Michael E. Fossum and Greg Chamitoff  will be on hand to engage with Discovery Lounge visitors, share his experiences in space and why they chose Texas A&M as their home.

Fossum, a 1980 Texas A&M graduate, was named chief operating officer of Texas A&M University’s Galveston campus March 2017. He was a member of the Corps of Cadets and was commissioned into the U.S. Air Force upon graduation in 1980. After completing a Master of Science in Systems Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology, he was assigned to NASA’s Johnson Space Center, where he supported space shuttle flight operations. In 1985, he graduated from Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base and went on to serve first as a Flight Test Engineer in the F-16 Test Squadron and later as a Flight Test Manager at the Air Force Flight Test Center.

Colonel Fossum resigned from active duty in 1992 to work for NASA as a systems engineer. In 1997, he earned a Master of Science in Physical Science (Space Science) from the University of Houston ‒ Clear Lake.  He retired from the U.S. Air Force Reserves in 2010.

Chamitoff joined the Texas A&M College of Engineering faculty as a professor of engineering practice in the Department of Aerospace Engineering in 2013. He joined Mission Operations at the Johnson Space Center in 1995 and was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in 1998. In 2008 he served as the flight engineer and science officer for a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station. In 2011 he served as a mission specialist on the last flight of Space Shuttle Endeavour. During his time in space he performed two space walks and logged more than 198 days in space.

 

There will also be opportunities to try “space ice cream” developed at Texas A&M and take part in a pair of virtual reality experiences.

Visit the Texas A&M at SXSW website for more information on activations.

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Media contact: tamunews@tamu.edu, 979-845-4641.

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