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Byron K. Lichtenberg |
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Byron K. Lichtenberg |
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Dr. Byron Lichtenberg has flown two space shuttle missions as a Payload Specialist. In this capacity, he represented over 100 scientists with experiments from all parts of the world. As the first non-NASA astronaut, Dr. Lichtenberg flew his first mission, SPACELAB 1, in 1983 aboard the shuttle "Columbia" where he spent 10 days in orbit conducting 72 different experiments in 5 scientific disciplines. This mission was the first flight of the European developed Spacelab module and was a demonstration flight for the different types of science that can be conducted in orbit including life science, materials science, Earth observations, astronomy and solar physics, and upper atmospheric and plasma physics. During his second flight, ATLAS-1, in 1992 aboard the shuttle "Atlantis," Dr. Lichtenberg conducted 14 experiments during 9 days primarily studying the upper atmosphere and the sun. During this mission the crew created the first ever artificial aurora by firing a beam of electrons into the lower atmosphere to produce spots of light similar to, but much dimmer than the "Northern Lights." Dr. Lichtenberg received his bachelor of science degree from Brown University in 1969 in aerospace engineering. Following a tour of duty in the Air Force during which he flew 138 combat missions in Vietnam (earning 10 Air medals and 2 Distinguished Flying Crosses), he returned to graduate school at MIT. He received his Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering in 1975 and his Doctorate in biomedical engineering in 1979. Dr. Lichtenberg also continued his flying career by flying F-100 and A-10 fighter aircraft in the Massachusetts Air National Guard from 1974 to 1992. During this time he received numerous commendations including the Meritorious Service Medal. In 1984, after his first spaceflight, Dr. Lichtenberg co-founded Payload Systems, Inc., a spaceflight science and engineering support services company. They are probably best known for flying the first commercial experiments aboard the Soviet space station MIR. They have a multi-flight agreement with the Russians to fly a series of protein crystallization experiments. He has been a Co-Investigator on a series of space experiments designed to study vestibular system (the human inner ear organ of balance) adaptation to spaceflight, and also how human eye-hand coordination and mental performance changes in space. From these experiments he has written numerous scientific articles. Dr. Lichtenberg is a founding member of the Association of Space Explorers, an international group of astronauts and cosmonauts dedicated to the advancement of space exploration for all people, a member and of the National Space Society, and a member of the Tau Beta Pi and Sigma Xi engineering and science organizations. He also is a founding member of the X-Prize Foundation dedicated to commercializing space transportation and was a founding member of the International Space University. He has been on numerous committees for NASA and the National Research Council. In 1991, Lichtenberg founded Omega Aerospace, Inc., a company dedicated to the advancement of space travel for all people. He also is a consultant to NASA on the space station and future scientific experiments in space. His current postion is a captain for a major airline. |
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ASE Collectibles with Byron Lichtenberg's signature: Posters: I Congress, II Congress, VI Congress, VIII
Congress, IX
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