Gregory Olsen
| Gregory Olsen | |
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| Country: | United States |
| Organization: | Space Adventures |
| selected on | July 6, 2005 |
| Calls: | 1 space flight |
| Begin: | October 1, 2005 |
| Landing: | October 11, 2005 |
| Time in space: | 9d 21h 15min |
| retired on | October 11, 2005 |
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Gregory Hammond Olsen (born April 20, 1945 in Brooklyn , New York City ) is an American entrepreneur. He became known as the third space tourist on the International Space Station . Before him, the US American Dennis Tito and a year later the South African Mark Shuttleworth traveled into space.
Olsen first attended Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey and studied physics and electrical engineering . After earning a bachelor's degree in 1966 , he focused entirely on physics and received a master's degree two years later . After graduating from physics , he received his PhD in materials science from the University of Virginia in 1971 .
Olsen then went to South Africa and taught physics at the University of Port Elizabeth for a year. In 1972 he returned to the United States and served on the scientific staff of RCA Laboratories in New Jersey for the next eleven years . There he mainly researched light detectors and laser diodes. Together with Wladimir Ban, the head of RCA Laboratories, Olsen went into business for himself in 1984 and founded the company EPITAXX. Just six years later, they sold the fiber optic cable company for $ 12 million.
Olsen, who holds a dozen patents, phoned Dr. Marshall J. Cohen Sensors Unlimited into life. He was the chief executive officer of the Princeton, New Jersey company for infrared cameras. In 2000, Sensors Unlimited was sold to Finisar Corporation for $ 600 million. Olsen and Cohen nevertheless presided over the company. It was only in April 2004 that Olsen, who was just preparing for his space flight in Russia , handed over the presidency and chairmanship of the board to Cohen.
Olsen flew with ISS Expedition 12 on board Soyuz TMA-7 to the space station on October 1, 2005 and returned to Earth on October 11 with Soyuz TMA-6 and the exchanged ISS Expedition 11 . He spent a total of nine days and 21 hours in space conducting astronomical and remote sensing experiments on board the ISS . For his trip he paid around $ 20 million (16.6 million euros).
In May 2006, Gregory Olsen, who is divorced and has two children, donated US $ 5 million to Fairleigh Dickinson University.
See also
Web links
- spacefacts.de: Short biography
| personal data | |
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| SURNAME | Olsen, Gregory |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Olsen, Gregory Hammond (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American spaceman and entrepreneur |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 20, 1945 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Brooklyn , New York |