Lodewijk van den Berg

• STS 51 -B ( 1985)

Lodewijk van den Berg ( born March 24, 1932 in Sluiskil, Netherlands) is an American scientist who participated in a space flight of a space shuttle. But he was the first astronaut who was born in the Netherlands, was at that time a Dutch citizen more.

Van den Berg studied from 1949 to 1961 Chemical Engineering at the Technical University of Delft. After graduating, he moved to the University of Delaware in the United States, where he also received a master's degree in applied science and in 1974 a doctorate in applied science.

Then van den Berg was a job with the EG & G Corporation, a military contractor offered. Van den Berg was to study the crystal growth. But since the company can cope with militarily sensitive information, it was necessary that the Dutchman van den Berg 1975 took the U.S. citizenship.

Astronauts activity

Preparation

During his work at EG & G van den Berg asked NASA to permission to perform crystal growth experiments in space. NASA told, and van den Berg and his team designed the Vapor Crystal Growth System ( VCGs ) for use in a space shuttle flight. NASA decided that it would be easier to get a crystal growth experts to make an astronaut than vice versa and asked EG & G and van den Berg to create a list of eight people who could carry out the experiments in a space flight. However, Van den Berg and his boss came only seven names. The chief added the list of van den Berg's name, but reckoned that van den Berg would be sorted out because of his age, his thick glasses, and his small stature already in the first round of NASA. In the first round, however, four other candidates dropped out, did not meet the technical requirements. In the physical tests consisted van den Berg also, while two others were eliminated because of possible heart problems. So van den Berg began with Mary Johnston training for the space mission. In October 1984 van den Berg was the spaceflight selected and Johnston to spare wife.

History of the flight

On 29 April 1985 van den Berg flew as a payload specialist aboard the space shuttle Challenger for the first time into space. The payload of the mission STS -51- B consisted of the Spacelab the European Space Agency ( ESA). Were carried 15 experiments, especially for the study of fluids and materials in weightless space. Van den Berg oversaw developed by him Vapor Crystal Growth System. For biological studies also were two monkeys and 24 rodents on board. 14 experiments were successfully carried out. In addition, the scientific satellite NUSAT was suspended.

After the space flight

After his space flight breeding van den Berg continued crystals at EG & G. Later he joined as chief scientist for Constellation Technology Corporation. Its crystals, mainly Quecksilberiodidkristalle be used for the production of precision detectors of radioactive radiation.

Private

Lodewijk van den Berg is married and has two children.

Honors

According to van den Berg, the asteroid was named 11430 Lodewijkberg.