NASA Astronaut Ed Lu Presents "Life on the International Space Station"

University of Hawaiʻi
Contact:
Karen Rehbock, (808) 956-8566
Institute for Astronomy
Posted: Feb 2, 2004

The Institute for Astronomy is pleased to host a public lecture entitled "Life on the International Space Station" by Dr. Ed Lu. The lecture will be held on Thursday February 5, 2004 from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the University of Hawaii School of Architecture Auditorium. Governor Linda Lingle will introduce Dr. Lu. There will be a webcast link available for those persons who cannot attend the lecture in person at http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu.

Dr. Lu joined the NASA astronaut program in 1994. He is a veteran of three space missions and has logged over 196 days in space. Most recently, on April 25, 2003, Dr. Lu was the first American to launch as the Flight Engineer of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, and the first American to launch and land on a Soyuz spacecraft. As Flight Engineer and NASA International Space Station (ISS) Science Officer, Dr. Lu spent a successful six-month tour of duty aboard the ISS, where he maintained space station systems and supervised science operations. He successfully returned to Earth on October 27, 2003. Dr. Lu spent 184 days, 21 hours and 47 minutes in space on that mission.

Dr. Lu is a research physicist who works in the fields of solar physics and astrophysics. In 1984 he received a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from Cornell University and in 1989 he received a doctorate in applied physics from Stanford University.

Dr. Lu was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy from 1992 to 1995. He has developed a number of new theoretical advances that have provided for the first time a basic understanding of the underlying physics of solar flares. He has published articles on a wide range of topics including solar flares, cosmology, solar oscillations, statistical mechanics, and plasma physics. He holds a commercial pilot certificate with instrument and multi-engine ratings and has logged over 1100 hours of flying time.

He considers Honolulu Hawaii and Webster, New York to be his hometowns. His interests are varied—he enjoys aerobatic flying, coaching wrestling, piano, tennis, surfing, skiing, and travel.

For more information, visit: http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu