 He moved with his family to New York City in 1949 and lived in the Queens borough before going to college.Michalitsianos' father, Gerasimos Andreas, was a sea captain of a Greek tanker, the "SS Foundation Star" (formerly "SS Lampas"), but the ship was caught up in a hurricane and sunk in September 1952 off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia, and Michalitsianos' father died of pneumonia shortly after rescue.Andreas showed an early interest in astronomy and physics from an early age, winning a science contest in 1959 and serving as president of the Junior Astronomy Club in NYC where his accomplishments included leading a South American eclipse expedition.