View source for Ed Lu

{{short description|American physicist and astronaut (born 1963)}}
{{family name hatnote|[[Lu (surname 卢)|Lu]]|lang=Chinese}}
{{Infobox astronaut
| name = Ed Lu
| native_name = 盧傑
| image = Edward Tsang Lu.jpg
| birth_name = Edward Tsang Lu
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1963|7|1}}
| birth_place = [[Springfield, Massachusetts]], U.S.
| death_date = 
| death_place = 
| education = [[Cornell University]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]])<br>{{no wrap|[[Stanford University]] ([[Master of Science|MS]], [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]])}}
| type = [[NASA astronaut]]
| time = 205d 23h 18m
| selection = [[NASA Astronaut Group 15|NASA Group 15 (1994)]]
| missions = [[STS-84]]<br>[[STS-106]]<br>[[Soyuz TMA-2]] ([[Expedition 7]])
| insignia = [[File:STS-84 patch.svg|40px]] [[File:Sts-106-patch.svg|40px]] [[File:Soyuz TMA-2 Patch.png|45px]] [[File:Expedition 7 insignia.svg|40px]]
| module = {{Infobox scientist
|embed = yes
|field = [[Solar physics]]<br />[[Astrophysics]]
|doctoral_advisor = Vahe Petrosian
|thesis_title = The Evolution of Energetic Particles and the Emitted Radiation in Solar Flares
|thesis_url = https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19890016574/downloads/19890016574.pdf
|thesis_year = 1989}}
{{Infobox Chinese|
| child = yes
| embed = yes
|t = 盧傑
|s = 卢杰
|p = Lú Jié
}}
}}
'''Edward Tsang''' "'''Ed'''" '''Lu''' ({{zh|t=盧傑|p=Lú Jié}}; born July 1, 1963) is an American [[physicist]] and former [[NASA]] [[astronaut]]. He flew on three [[Space Shuttle]] flights, and made an extended stay aboard the [[International Space Station]].<ref name="NASA-bio Ed Lu">{{cite web |date=August 2007 |title=EDWARD TSANG LU (PH.D.), NASA ASTRONAUT (FORMER) |url=https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/lu-edward-0.pdf |access-date=April 12, 2021 |publisher=NASA}}</ref>

In 2007, Lu retired from NASA to become the [[Program management|program manager]] of [[Google]]'s [[Project Ara|Advanced Projects Team]].<ref name="NASA-Press Release: 07-176" /><ref name="Silicon Valley News-2012.06.06">{{cite web| url = http://www.siliconvalley.com/news/ci_20796152/google-unveils-new-maps-features-amid-fight-apple| date = June 6, 2012| publisher = Silicon Valley News| title = Google Unveils New Maps Features Amid Apple Fight| access-date = July 1, 2012| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140714153504/http://www.siliconvalley.com/news/ci_20796152/google-unveils-new-maps-features-amid-fight-apple| archive-date = July 14, 2014}}</ref> In 2002, while still at NASA, Lu co-founded the [[B612 Foundation]], dedicated to protecting the Earth from [[Impact events|asteroid strikes]], later serving as its [[chairman]].<ref name="NASA-bio Ed Lu" />  As of 2020, he is its executive director.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://b612foundation.org/our-team/#hash_filters=leadership|title=Our Team}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Lu was born in [[Springfield, Massachusetts]],<ref name=":0">{{Citation |title=Biographical Data: Edward Tsang Lu (Ph.D.) |date=July 2023 |url=https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/lu-edward-0.pdf |publisher=[[NASA]] |via=[[Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center]]}}</ref> to a [[Taiwanese American]] family.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Taiwanese Americans - Document - Gale Power Search |url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&u=wikipedia&id=GALE%7CCX3273300175&v=2.1&it=r&sid=GPS&asid=5fc6f8d6 |access-date=2025-02-12 |website=go.gale.com}}</ref> His parents were immigrants from [[Taiwan]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005-03-16 |title=Lu gets red-carpet welcome in El Salvador |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2005/03/16/2003246452 |access-date=2025-02-12 |website=[[Taipei Times]]}}</ref> He was raised in [[Honolulu, Hawaii]], and [[Webster, New York]].<ref name=":0" />

Lu attended R. L. Thomas High School, where he was a member of the wrestling team and graduated in 1980. After high school, Lu graduated from [[Cornell University]], where he earned his [[Bachelor of Science]] (B.S.) in [[electrical engineering]] and was a member of [[Pi Kappa Phi]]. He then earned a [[Master of Science]] (M.S.) and a [[Ph.D.]] in [[applied physics]] from [[Stanford University]] in 1989 as a fellow of the [[National Science Foundation]].<ref name="NASA-bio Ed Lu" /> 

Lu became a specialist in [[solar physics]] and did postdoctoral work at the [[Institute for Astronomy (Hawaii)|Institute for Astronomy]] in [[Honolulu, Hawaii]] before being selected for the [[NASA Astronaut Corps]] in 1994.<ref name="NASA-bio Ed Lu" />

==NASA career==
Lu flew on [[Space Shuttle]] missions [[STS-84]] in 1997 and [[STS-106]] in 2000, in which he carried out a six-hour spacewalk to perform construction work on the International Space Station. Having been flight engineer on [[Soyuz TMA-2]], Lu spent six months in space in 2003 as part of [[Expedition 7|ISS Expedition 7]], with cosmonaut [[Yuri Malenchenko]].<ref name="NASA-bio Ed Lu" />

In July 2003, Lu and Malenchenko answered questions from students participating in Japan's [[NASDA]] special educational event, where Ed Lu performed "[[Happy Birthday to You|Happy Birthday]]" on an electronic piano for a student's birthday in the live broadcast from space.<ref>[http://spaceflight1.nasa.gov/gallery/video/station/expedition7/ndxpage3.html Expedition 7 Video Index<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111030013614/http://spaceflight1.nasa.gov/gallery/video/station/expedition7/ndxpage3.html |date=2011-10-30 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://spaceflight1.nasa.gov/gallery/video/station/expedition7/net56/nasda2_56.asf |title=Lu Video from Space - Happy Birthday|access-date=2011-04-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531160956/http://spaceflight1.nasa.gov/gallery/video/station/expedition7/net56/nasda2_56.asf |archive-date=2012-05-31 }}</ref> He had demonstrated the difficulty of playing the piano instrument in space during a live in-orbit interview with CBS News and NASA TV video feed.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULrx5J0WfgQ Piano in space – YouTube<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Also on this ISS mission on 15 October 2003, Lu communicated with the crewman of China's first crewed mission into space, [[Yang Liwei]], flying aboard [[Shenzhou 5]]. Lu congratulated the Chinese for the achievement and said in ''[[Putonghua]]'': "Welcome to space. Have a safe journey". Malenchenko added: "I love to have somebody else in space instead of (just) me and Ed".<ref>[http://www.nasa.gov/missions/shuttle/iss_china.html NASA – Expedition 7 Crew Members Welcome China to Space<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

During the [[STS-106]] mission, while on a space phone call with professor [https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/11/science/lloyd-kaufman-dead.html Lloyd Kaufman], Ed Lu observed that there is no [[moon_illusion | moon illusion]] in space <ref>{{cite journal |title=Explaining the moon illusion |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|date= 2000 |doi= 10.1073/pnas.97.1.500 |last1= Kaufman |first1= Lloyd |last2= Kaufman |first2= James H. |volume= 97 |issue= 1 |pages= 500–505 |doi-access= free |pmid= 10618447 |pmc= 26692 }}</ref>

While still employed at NASA, Lu co-founded the [[B612 Foundation]] along with former astronaut [[Rusty Schweickart]] and scientists Clark Chapman and [[Piet Hut]].  It has conducted two lines of related research to help detect asteroids that could one day strike the Earth, and find the technological means for asteroid deflection. The foundation's current goal is to design and build a privately financed asteroid-finding space telescope, Sentinel, to be launched in 2017–2018. The Sentinel's infrared telescope, once parked in an orbit similar to that of Venus, will help identify asteroids and other near-Earth objects (NEOs) that pose a risk of collision with Earth.<ref name="NASA-bio Ed Lu" />

== Magic trick in space==

While on the ISS, Lu teamed up with magician [[James Randi]] (founder of [[JREF]]) to perform a card trick in outer space.  Randi asked Lu to (without looking) select a card from the middle of a brand new freshly shuffled deck of cards, turn it around and reinsert the card into the deck the opposite direction.  Then place the deck of cards back into its box then take them out again and fan the cards to the camera. This same procedure was being done by Randi back on Earth at the JREF headquarters in front of witnesses from the Miami Herald.  Both Randi and Lu successfully selected the same card, the seven of diamonds.  The remaining cards were jettisoned for weight reasons before returning to Earth, but Lu smuggled the card home.  The two cards complete with autographs are framed for public view at the JREF offices in Fort Lauderdale, FL.  Randi asks Lu "What are the odds that we would both choose the same card?" Lu answers "Knowing you and your tricky ways, the odds were one in one, because it's a trick!"<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=A4331A80BD0B002F Card Trick in Space ~ Ed Lu & Randi – YouTube<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

== Post-NASA career ==
{{CSS image crop|Image = Ed Lu by Christopher Michel in 2022.jpg|bSize = 233|cWidth = 220|cHeight = 301|oTop = 9|oLeft = 13|Location = right|Description = Lu in 2022}}

On August 10, 2007, Lu announced he was retiring from NASA to work at [[Google]].<ref name="NASA-bio Ed Lu" /><ref name="NASA-Press Release: 07-176">{{cite news
 | first = Allard
 | last = Beutel
 | title = Astronaut Ed Lu Leaves NASA
 | date = 2007-08-10
 | publisher = NASA
 | url = http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/aug/HQ_07176_Ed_Lu_Leaves.html
 | access-date = 2007-08-12
 | archive-date = 2021-03-17
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210317050114/https://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/aug/HQ_07176_Ed_Lu_Leaves.html
 | url-status = dead
 }}</ref>

In June 2010, Lu left Google and worked out of the Sunfire Offices.<ref>[http://www.sunfire-offices.com/people Sunfire Offices<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120911153330/http://www.sunfire-offices.com/people |date=2012-09-11 }}</ref>  In September 2011, Lu joined [[Liquid Robotics]] as Chief of Innovative Applications, where his work includes outreach to promote new applications for ocean science,<ref>{{cite news|title=Edward T. Lu Joins Liquid Robotics as Chief of Innovative Applications (USA)|date=September 16, 2011|url=https://www.offshore-energy.biz/edward-t-lu-joins-liquid-robotics-as-chief-of-innovative-applications-usa/|publisher=OffshoreEnergy.biz|access-date=January 2, 2023}}</ref> and in 2012, he joined Hover Inc. as its Chief Technology Officer.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.siliconvalley.com/news/ci_20796152/google-unveils-new-maps-features-amid-fight-apple |date=June 6, 2012 |publisher=Silicon Valley News |title=Google Unveils New Maps Features Amid Apple Fight |access-date=July 1, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714153504/http://www.siliconvalley.com/news/ci_20796152/google-unveils-new-maps-features-amid-fight-apple |archive-date=July 14, 2014 }}</ref>

On June 28, 2012, Lu, with Apollo 9 Astronaut [[Rusty Schweickart]] and [[G. Scott Hubbard]], Astronautics professor at [[Stanford University]] announced plans to build and operate the first [[Private spaceflight|privately]]-funded deep space mission called [[Sentinel (space telescope)|Sentinel]]. Their non-profit [[B612 Foundation]] will launch an [[Infrared astronomy|infrared]] [[space telescope]] in orbit around the Sun, where from a distance as great as {{convert|270,000,000|km|sp=us}} from Earth, where it would detect and track asteroids and other [[near-Earth object]]s posing threats to the planet. On October 25, 2016 B612 and Lu endorsed NASA's NEOcam proposed mission and ended the Sentinel project.

As of 2022, Lu is working on a new project to find "killer asteroids" by analyzing terabytes of archived data. So far, the [[B612 Foundation]], cofounded by Lu, has found over 100 new potentially-threatening asteroids. This immense number-crunching effort is supported in part by Google's applied artificial intelligence project.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/31/science/asteroids-algorithm-planetary-defense.html "Killer Asteroids Are Hiding in Plain Sight."], article by [[Kenneth Chang]], New York Times, May 31, 2022 </ref>

==Personal life==
Lu is married and has two children.

<gallery>
File:Ed Lu.jpg|co-founder of the B612 Foundation (18 July 2014)
File:2013 Senate testimony Ed Lu.webm|Assessing the Risks, Impacts and Solutions for Space Threats, Senate Subcommittee on Science and Space testimony on March 23, 2013
File:20070821 Ed Lu giving interview for HTV.jpg|Ed Lu giving interview for Croatian Television during Dalmatian Space Summer (21 August 2007)
File:Soyuz TMA-2 after landing.jpg|Landing in Kazakhstan (October 27, 2003) 
File:Haircut in space.jpg|Haircut in space (12 August 2003)
</gallery>

== See also ==
* [[List of Asian American astronauts]]
* [[Leroy Chiao]]
* [[Taylor Wang]]

== References ==
{{Include-NASA}}
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* {{cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/lu_edward_0.pdf |title=Edward Tsang Lu (Ph.D.), NASA Astronaut (Former) |publisher=NASA |date=August 2007 |access-date=April 12, 2021}} (archived copy available at [https://web.archive.org/web/20081203142258/http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/lu.html Archive.org])
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20030715231724/http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/crew/exp7/luletters/index.html Dr. Lu's Space Blog] written from during Expedition 7
* [http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/astronauts/english/lu_edward.htm Spacefacts biography of Ed Lu]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR5Wd_9psOQ Asteroid Apocalypse: The Tech Exists to Deflect Asteroids, So Why Aren't We Using It?], 

{{NASA Astronaut Group 15}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lu, Edward Tsang}}
[[Category:1963 births]]
[[Category:Scientists from Springfield, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:American astronauts]]
[[Category:21st-century American physicists]]
[[Category:Cornell University College of Engineering alumni]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Stanford University alumni]]
[[Category:Crew members of the International Space Station]]
[[Category:Google employees]]
[[Category:People from Webster, New York]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:American academics of Chinese descent]]
[[Category:Scientists from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Space Shuttle program astronauts]]
[[Category:Spacewalkers]]
[[Category:Mir crew members]]
[[Category:Chinese astronauts]]
[[Category:American academics of Taiwanese descent]]
[[Category:American people of Taiwanese descent]]