Alexander Gerst, ESA astronaut, and a geophysicist, visiting the Lunar Sample Laboratory. This is a special building in Johnson Space Center (JSC) dedicated for the preservation and scientific study of the geologic samples retrieved from the Moon by the Apollo lunar surface missions in 1969-1972.
Alexander will fly to the International Space Station in 2014 for a six-month mission as a flight engineer of Expeditions 40 and 41. He will be visiting JSC regularly during his mission training.
Alexander Gerst was born in Künzelsau, Germany, in 1976. He studied at the University of Karlsruhe, Germany, where he received a diploma in geophysics. He also studied Earth Science at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, where he was awarded a Master of Science. He has been working as a researcher since 2001. In his spare time he enjoys mountaineering, diving, climbing and skydiving.