Accomplished Chinese Americans

American Astronaut of Chinese descent

Edward Tsang Lu (Ph.D.)

Date of Birth:	July 1, 1963

Place of Birth:	Springfield, MA.  Edward Lu considers Honolulu,  Hawaii, and Webster, New York as his hometowns.  His parents, Charlie and Snowlily Lu, reside in Fremont California.

U.S. Citizen: By birth

Education: Graduate of R.L. Thomas High School, Webster, NY (1980). B.S. in electrical engineering from Cornell University (1984), Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Stanford University (1989).						

	Since obtaining his Ph.D., Dr. Lu has been a research physicist  
working in the fields of solar physics and astrophysics.  He was a  
visiting scientist at the High Altitude Observatory in Boulder,  
Colorado, from 1989 until 1992, the final year holding a jointed  
appointment with the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics at the  
University of Colorado.  From 1992 until 1995, he was a postdoctoral  
fellow at the Institute for Astronomy in Honolulu. Hawaii.  Dr. Lu has  
developed a number of new theoretical advances which 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 has over 20 invited lectures at various  
universities and international conferences.  He holds a commercial  
pilot certificate with instrument and multi- engine ratings.

	Selected by NASA in December 1994 1994, Dr. Lu reported to the Johnson  
Space Center in March 1995., has completed a year of training and  
evaluation, and is qualified for assignment as a mission specialist.   
He wa initially assigned to work technical issues in the Computer  
Support Branch of the Astronaut Office.  Most recently, he served as a  
mission specialist on STS-84 (May 15-24, 1997), NASA's sixth Shuttle  
mission to rendezvous and dock with the Russian Space Station Mir.  In  
completing this 9-day mission, Dr. Lu traveled 3.6 million miles 144  
orbits of the Earth logging a total of 221 hours and 20 minutes in 
space

	STS-84 May 1997 Assignment:   Prime Crew, Flight time: 9.22 days.
Atlantis blasted off on a night launch to Mir, docking with the station  
on May 17 at 02:33 GMT.  Jerry Linenger, who had begun his stay on Mir  
in mid-January aboard STST-81, would return aboard STS-84.  Michael  
Foale would be left at the station for his stint as the American crew  
of Mir.  The crew transferred to Mir 466 kg of water, 383 kg of U.S.  
science equipment, 1,251 kg of Russian equipment and supplies, and 178  
kg of miscellaneous material.  Returned to Earth aboard Atlantis were  
406 kg of U.S. science material, 531 kg of Russian logistics material,  
14 kg of ESA material and 171 kg of miscellaneous material.  Atlantis  
undocked from Mir at 01:04 GMT on May 22.  After passing up its first  
landing opportunity due to clouds over the landing site, the shuttle  
fired its OMS engines on the deorbit burn at 12:33 GMT o May 24.   
Atlantis landed at 13:27 GMT at Kennedy Space Center's runway 33.