Posted: Tue, Jul 3, 2012, 9:17 AM ET (1317 GMT)
A former NASA astronaut who flew on two Space Shuttle missions died Sunday in a jet ski accident. Alan "Dex" Poindexter died the jet ski he was sitting on was hit by another in the waters off Pensacola, Florida. A naval aviator, Poindexter joined the NASA astronaut corps and flew on two shuttle missions, serving as pilot of STS-122 in 2008 and commander of STS-131 in 2010 on the penultimate flight of the shuttle Discovery. He left the astronaut corps shortly after his second flight, returning to the US Navy to serve as dean of students at the Naval Postgraduate School.

Related Links:

•  Pensacola (Fla.) News-Journal
•  collectSPACE article
•  Reuters article
•  Spaceflight Now article
•  NASA press release