Ed Lu: Difference between revisions
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{{short description|American physicist and astronaut (born 1963)}} | {{short description|American physicist and astronaut (born 1963)}} | ||
{{family name hatnote|[[Lu (surname 卢)|Lu]]|lang=Chinese}} | {{family name hatnote|[[Lu (surname 卢)|Lu]]|lang=Chinese}} | ||
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2025}} | |||
{{Infobox astronaut | {{Infobox astronaut | ||
| name = Ed Lu | | name = Ed Lu | ||
| Line 11: | Line 12: | ||
| death_place = | | death_place = | ||
| education = [[Cornell University]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]])<br>{{no wrap|[[Stanford University]] ([[Master of Science|MS]], [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]])}} | | education = [[Cornell University]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]])<br>{{no wrap|[[Stanford University]] ([[Master of Science|MS]], [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]])}} | ||
| caption = Lu in 2000 | |||
| type = [[NASA astronaut]] | | type = [[NASA astronaut]] | ||
| time = 205d 23h 18m | | time = 205d 23h 18m | ||
| selection = [[NASA Astronaut Group 15|NASA Group 15 (1994)]] | | selection = [[NASA Astronaut Group 15|NASA Group 15 (1994)]] | ||
| evas = 1 | |||
| missions = [[STS-84]]<br>[[STS-106]]<br>[[Soyuz TMA-2]] ([[Expedition 7]]) | | missions = [[STS-84]]<br>[[STS-106]]<br>[[Soyuz TMA-2]] ([[Expedition 7]]) | ||
| eva_time = 6h, 14m | |||
| 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]] | | 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 | | module = {{Infobox scientist | ||
| Line 36: | Line 40: | ||
==Early life and education== | ==Early life and education== | ||
Lu was born in [[Springfield, Massachusetts]],<ref name=":0">{{ | 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=February 12, 2025 |website=go.gale.com}}</ref> His parents were immigrants from [[Taiwan]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 16, 2005 |title=Lu gets red-carpet welcome in El Salvador |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2005/03/16/2003246452 |access-date=February 12, 2025 |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 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" /> | ||
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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" /> | 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 | 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=October 30, 2011 }}</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=April 3, 2011 |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=May 31, 2012 }}</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 October 15, 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>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/missions/shuttle/iss_china.html |title=NASA – Expedition 7 Crew Members Welcome China to Space<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=April 3, 2011 |archive-date=November 25, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101125001853/http://www.nasa.gov/missions/shuttle/iss_china.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> | ||
During the [[STS-106]] mission, Ed Lu observed that there is no [[moon_illusion | moon illusion]] in space <ref>{{cite | 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" /> | 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" /> | ||
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| last = Beutel | | last = Beutel | ||
| title = Astronaut Ed Lu Leaves NASA | | title = Astronaut Ed Lu Leaves NASA | ||
| date = 2007 | | date = August 10, 2007 | ||
| publisher = NASA | | publisher = NASA | ||
| url = http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/aug/HQ_07176_Ed_Lu_Leaves.html | | url = http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/aug/HQ_07176_Ed_Lu_Leaves.html | ||
| access-date = 2007 | | access-date = August 12, 2007 | ||
| archive-date = 2021 | | archive-date = March 17, 2021 | ||
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210317050114/https://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/aug/HQ_07176_Ed_Lu_Leaves.html | | 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 | | url-status = dead | ||
}}</ref> | }}</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 | 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=September 11, 2012 }}</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. | 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> | 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> | ||
Latest revision as of 14:59, 31 December 2025
Template:Short description Template:Family name hatnote Template:Use mdy dates Script error: No such module "Template wrapper".Script error: No such module "Check for clobbered parameters". Edward Tsang "Ed" Lu (Template:Zh; 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.[1]
In 2007, Lu retired from NASA to become the program manager of Google's Advanced Projects Team.[2][3] In 2002, while still at NASA, Lu co-founded the B612 Foundation, dedicated to protecting the Earth from asteroid strikes, later serving as its chairman.[1] As of 2020, he is its executive director.[4]
Early life and education
Lu was born in Springfield, Massachusetts,[5] to a Taiwanese American family.[6] His parents were immigrants from Taiwan.[7] He was raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, and Webster, New York.[5]
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.[1]
Lu became a specialist in solar physics and did postdoctoral work at the Institute for Astronomy in Honolulu, Hawaii before being selected for the NASA Astronaut Corps in 1994.[1]
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 ISS Expedition 7, with cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko.[1]
In July 2003, Lu and Malenchenko answered questions from students participating in Japan's NASDA special educational event, where Ed Lu performed "Happy Birthday" on an electronic piano for a student's birthday in the live broadcast from space.[8][9] 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.[10] Also on this ISS mission on October 15, 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".[11]
During the STS-106 mission, while on a space phone call with professor Lloyd Kaufman, Ed Lu observed that there is no moon illusion in space [12]
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.[1]
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!"[13]
Post-NASA career
On August 10, 2007, Lu announced he was retiring from NASA to work at Google.[1][2]
In June 2010, Lu left Google and worked out of the Sunfire Offices.[14] In September 2011, Lu joined Liquid Robotics as Chief of Innovative Applications, where his work includes outreach to promote new applications for ocean science,[15] and in 2012, he joined Hover Inc. as its Chief Technology Officer.[16]
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 privately-funded deep space mission called Sentinel. Their non-profit B612 Foundation will launch an infrared space telescope in orbit around the Sun, where from a distance as great as Script error: No such module "convert". from Earth, where it would detect and track asteroids and other near-Earth objects 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.[17]
Personal life
Lu is married and has two children.
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co-founder of the B612 Foundation (18 July 2014)
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Assessing the Risks, Impacts and Solutions for Space Threats, Senate Subcommittee on Science and Space testimony on March 23, 2013
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Ed Lu giving interview for Croatian Television during Dalmatian Space Summer (21 August 2007)
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Landing in Kazakhstan (October 27, 2003)
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Haircut in space (12 August 2003)
See also
References
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
- ↑ a b c d e f g Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Expedition 7 Video Index Template:Webarchive
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Piano in space – YouTube
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- ↑ Card Trick in Space ~ Ed Lu & Randi – YouTube
- ↑ Sunfire Offices Template:Webarchive
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ "Killer Asteroids Are Hiding in Plain Sight.", article by Kenneth Chang, New York Times, May 31, 2022
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External links
- Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". (archived copy available at Archive.org)
- Dr. Lu's Space Blog written from during Expedition 7
- Spacefacts biography of Ed Lu
- Asteroid Apocalypse: The Tech Exists to Deflect Asteroids, So Why Aren't We Using It?,
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- Pages with script errors
- Pages with broken file links
- 1963 births
- Scientists from Springfield, Massachusetts
- American astronauts
- 21st-century American physicists
- Cornell University College of Engineering alumni
- Living people
- Stanford University alumni
- Crew members of the International Space Station
- Google employees
- People from Webster, New York
- American academics of Chinese descent
- Scientists from New York (state)
- Space Shuttle program astronauts
- Spacewalkers
- Mir crew members
- Chinese astronauts
- American academics of Taiwanese descent
- American people of Taiwanese descent