Andrew Michael Allen

Andrew Michael "Andy" Allen is a retired American astronaut. A former Marine aviator and lieutenant colonel, he worked as a test pilot before joining NASA in 1987. Allen received his commission in the United States Marine Corps at Villanova University in 1977. Following graduation from flight school, he flew F-4 Phantoms from 1980 to 1983 with squadron VMFA-312 at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Beaufort, South Carolina, and was assigned as the Aircraft Maintenance Officer. A 1987 graduate of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, Maryland, he was a test pilot under instruction when advised of his selection to the astronaut program. He has logged over 6,000 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft. Selected by NASA in June 1987, Allen became an astronaut in August 1988. A veteran of three space flights, Allen has logged over 900 hours in space. He was the pilot on STS-46 in 1992 and STS-62 in 1994, and was mission commander on STS-75 in 1996. Allen retired from the Marine Corps and left NASA in October 1997, and is now CEO of Aerodyne Industries in Cape Canaveral, Florida.