NASA Astronaut Drew Feustel has spent his time on the International Space Station connecting with motorsports racing fans by capturing a unique perspective of racetracks. Feustel launched to space for the third time as part of the Expedition 55/56 crew, where he will work and live aboard ISS for a six-month mission.
From IndyCar to Formula 1, Feustel has photographed racetracks as the Space Station flies overhead and shared the images on social media. In some instances, Feustel has shared the photos during a race weekend with a special message to fans, drivers, and teams attending the event below.
The Michigan native grew up around cars and started racing at a young age before working as a mechanic while attending a community college. Before launching, Feustel spoke about how the car mechanic skills he acquired had proven useful to him as an astronaut, “I brought those skills with me into the astronaut corps, and they’ve served me well.”
For 2018, NASA is celebrating a year of education in space, and even though it is his crewmate, Ricky Arnold, who is a former teacher, before launching Feustel said, “I’m trying to excite kids around the world to consider that careers in technical fields are useful and may lead you to space one day.”
Despite this being his third trip to space, it is the first time Feustel will live and work onboard the station for a long-duration mission. Astronauts often spend time in the cupola of the International Space Station because it offers the best views of Earth from space and is likely where Feustel is capturing images of the racetracks from.
Feustel is scheduled to return to Earth in August of 2018. You can follow Feustel’s mission on Instagram and Twitter.
