Mark T. Vande Hei

Mark Thomas Vande Hei is a current NASA astronaut.

Early life and Education
Lt. Colonel Vande Hei, U.S. Army, was born in Falls Church, Virginia. Vande Hei graduated from Benilde-St. Margaret's High School in Saint Louis Park, Minnesota in 1985. Vande Hei earned a bachelor of arts degree with a major in physics from Saint John's University in 1989 and a master of science in applied physics from Stanford University in 1999.



Military career
Vande Hei was commissioned in the U.S. Army through the ROTC program in 1989 and became a combat engineer. After earning his master degree in 1999, he became an assistant professor of physics at the United States Military Academy in West Point. In 2003, he became part of the Army's 1st Space Battalion at Peterson Air Force Base. Vande Hei served in Iraq in Operation Provide Comfort and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

NASA career
Vande Hei began working at Johnson Space Center in 2006 as part of the U.S. Army contingent there. He works as a communications officer (which is a flight controller responsible for communicating with astronauts in space) for the International Space Station. In June 2009, Vande Hei was selected as a member of the NASA Astronaut Group 20 and he completed astronaut candidate training in June 2011. He is currently eligible for space flight missions, but he has not yet been selected for a mission.