By Jeff Mays
As the Space Shuttle Discovery makes its final descent from the International Space Station Wednesday morning and then heads to the Smithsonian Institute to be preserved for history, Benjamin Alvin “Al” Drew Jr. will be able to say that he was part of a historic moment.
The retired Air Force colonel is the only African American aboard what will be the final mission of the Space Shuttle Discovery. The crew delivered the first humanoid robot in to space. Drew, 48, also performed a pair of spacewalks during this final historic trip.
The two spacewalks helped to upgrade important parts of the international space station. During one of the spacewalks, Drew was tasked with removing toxic ammonia from a cooling unit. According to Space.com, Drew was also “removing thermal coverings, attaching camera lens covers and adjusting loose radiator grapple beams that had been improperly installed during a previous shuttle mission.”
Discovery is NASA’s oldest and most traveled shuttle. Only two more shuttle launches remain before the program is shuttered for good. The shuttle is expected to disconnect from the International Space Station this morning and spend another two days in orbit before returning to Earth on Wednesday.
“What a great program, and I got to be a part of it,” Drew said in an interview before this trip.