Ed Lu
| Edward Lu | |
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| Country: | United States |
| Organization: | NASA |
| selected on | December 8, 1994 (15th NASA Group) |
| Calls: | 3 space flights |
| Start of the first space flight: |
May 15, 1997 |
| Landing of the last space flight: |
October 28, 2003 |
| Time in space: | 205 d 23 h 18 min |
| EVA inserts: | 1 |
| EVA total duration: | 6 h 14 min |
| retired on | August 2007 |
| Space flights | |
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Edward Tsang "Ed" Lu ( Chinese : 卢杰 and 盧傑Pinyin : Lú Jié ; born July 1, 1963 in Springfield , Massachusetts , USA ) is a former American astronaut .
Lu spent his childhood in Honolulu , Hawaii, and his youth in the city of Webster, New York . There he graduated from RL Thomas High School in 1980 (the official name is Webster Thomas High School). He then began to study electrical engineering at the private Cornell University , which he completed in 1984 with a bachelor's degree . During his time at Cornell he was an active member of the university's own wrestling team - he competed for the "Big Reds" in the 60 kilogram weight class (today he only trains). Lu then moved to California and studied at Stanford University . In 1989 he received his doctorate in applied physics .
Lu went for three years after Boulder ( Colorado ) at the High Altitude Observatory. Funded by the United States National Science Foundation and operated by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, this facility explores the sun . During his senior year in Boulder, he also worked in the University of Colorado Astrophysics Laboratory . In 1992 Lu moved to the University of Hawaii and worked as an astrophysicist at the Institute for Astronomy there until he switched to NASA.
Astronaut activity
Lu was interested in space travel as a child, but the possibility of becoming an astronaut himself was relegated to the realm of utopia. During his work as a scientist, he learned that you could apply to NASA for this profession on a regular basis. So it happened that he submitted his documents and was accepted the first time.
Lu was selected as one of nine mission specialists with the 15th astronaut group in early December 1994. From a total of 2962 applicants who met the formal selection criteria, 121 finalists emerged. They were invited to the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston , Texas in the summer of 1994 for tests, job interviews and medical examinations.
After a year of basic training that began in March 1995, Ed Lu was assigned to the computer department of the astronauts office until a few months later he was appointed to the STS-84 crew . This flight took place in May 1997 as part of the Shuttle Mir program . The US space shuttle Atlantis docked with the Russian Mir space station for several days . Essential goods were brought on board the station and a crew exchange took place: Jerry Linenger returned home after four months in space and left Mike Foale behind.
In late 1998, Lu began to prepare for his second space flight. STS-101 was to be conducted in the fall of 1999 and was the third mission to the International Space Station (ISS) . In the spring of 2000 NASA divided the tasks and crew of this flight: STS-106 was launched and three space travelers from STS-101 (Lu, Morukow , Malenchenko ) were placed on STS-106. With these two flights, carried out one after the other at an interval of four months, the ISS should be prepared more quickly for the reception of its first crew. During his second flight in September 2000, Lu and Malenchenko disembarked for six hours on the third day to lay cables and assemble an instrument boom.
In April 2003, Lu and his Russian colleague Malenchenko flew to the space station again with Soyuz TMA-2 as ISS Expedition 7 . Originally, another spaceman (first Sergei Moschtschenko , then Alexander Kaleri ) was to be part of the crew, and all three were to be brought to the ISS with STS-114 . When the space shuttle flights to the ISS were temporarily suspended after the Columbia disaster in February 2003, all subsequent permanent crews had been reduced to two people in order to save resources and were forced to carry out all feeder flights by Soyuz rocket . Commander Malenchenko and flight engineer Lu stayed on board the space station for six months and returned to Earth in October 2003 with the Soyuz spacecraft.
Lu last made a name for himself as a scientist in November 2005 when he presented an idea in an issue of the respected journal Nature to divert asteroids that could collide with the earth from their orbits. Discovered at an early stage, one could steer an unmanned spaceship, which (because of its low weight) would be equipped with an ion drive , to a planetoid. It would stop near the body and maintain its relative position. Due to the mutual gravitational forces, the spaceship could then “pull” the asteroid and deflect it slightly from its orbit. Specifically, Lu spoke about the asteroid Apophis . This was discovered in summer 2004. Initial orbit calculations had shown that there was a possibility that it could collide with the earth in April 2029. It is now assumed that he will pass them at a very short distance. Edward Tsang Lu is a co-founder of the B612 Foundation .
On November 26, 2004 the asteroid (17032) Edlu was named after him.
In August 2007, Lu left NASA.
Ed Lu and his wife have one child.
See also
Web links
- Short biography of Edward Lu at spacefacts.de
- NASA biography of Edward Lu (PDF)
- Biography of Edward Lu in the Encyclopedia Astronautica (English)
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Lu, Ed |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Lu, Edward Tsang (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American astronaut |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 1, 1963 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Springfield , Massachusetts , United States |