NASA Astronaut - Mike Fossum
NASA astronaut Mike Fossum 
grew up in McAllen, Texas. He attended McAllen High School. Fossum received his commission in the U.S. Air Force from Texas A&M University in May 1980. After completing his graduate work at the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1981, he was detailed to NASA-Johnson Space Center, where he supported Space Shuttle flight operations, beginning with STS-3. He was selected for Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California, where he graduated in 1985. He began is spaceflights with STS-121 (July 4 to July 17, 2006), a return-to-flight test mission and assembly flight to the ISS. During the 13-day flight, the crew of Space Shuttle Discovery tested new equipment and procedures that increase the safety of Space Shuttles and produced never-before-seen, high-resolution images of the Shuttle during and after its July 4th launch. Fossum and Piers Sellers performed three EVAs to test the 50-ft robotic arm boom extension as a work platform.
