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Obituaries

Alan Poindexter | Former astronaut, 50

ORLANDO - Capt. Alan Poindexter, 50, a former NASA astronaut who commanded the space shuttle Discovery's next-to-last mission, died after a personal watercraft crash involving his sons near Pensacola Beach, Fla.

FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2008 file photo, STS-122 Pilot Alan Poindexter waves to members of the media as he prepares to board the astronaut van for a trip to Launch pad 39-A and a planned liftoff on the space shuttle Atlantis Thursday Feb. 7, 2008 at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Capt. Poindexter died Sunday July 1, 2012, following a personal watercraft accident in Little Sabine Bay at Pensacola Beach, Fla. He was 51. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)
FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2008 file photo, STS-122 Pilot Alan Poindexter waves to members of the media as he prepares to board the astronaut van for a trip to Launch pad 39-A and a planned liftoff on the space shuttle Atlantis Thursday Feb. 7, 2008 at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Capt. Poindexter died Sunday July 1, 2012, following a personal watercraft accident in Little Sabine Bay at Pensacola Beach, Fla. He was 51. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)Read moreAP
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ORLANDO - Capt. Alan Poindexter, 50, a former NASA astronaut who commanded the space shuttle Discovery's next-to-last mission, died after a personal watercraft crash involving his sons near Pensacola Beach, Fla.

Capt. Poindexter died Sunday after a craft operated by his 26-year-old son, Zachary, hit the back of one that the former astronaut was operating, which had his son Samuel as a passenger.

"They were both moving, and for some reason Capt. Poindexter stopped his watercraft and Zachary for some reason didn't see him stop," said Stan Kirkland, a spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "Zachary's watercraft went up and struck Capt. Poindexter."

The accident happened in a bay between Gulf Breeze and Pensacola Beach in Florida's Panhandle, where Capt. Poindexter had been vacationing.

- Associated Press

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