Lodewijk van den Berg

Infobox Astronaut
name =Lodewijk van den Berg


type =EG&G Payload Specialist
nationality =Dutch
date_birth =birth date and age|1932|03|24
place_birth =Sluiskil, The Netherlands
occupation =Chemical engineer
selection =1983 NASA Group
time =7d 00h 08m
mission =STS-51-B
insignia =|

Lodewijk van den Berg is a Dutch chemical engineer, specializing in crystal growth, who flew on a 1985 Space Shuttle "Challenger" mission as a Payload Specialist. He was the first Dutch-born astronaut, a fact that is little recognized in the Netherlands because he was a naturalized American and likely no longer a Dutch citizen at the time of flight.Van den Berg became a naturalized citizen of the US in 1975. According to [http://www.minbuza.nl/en/welcome/DutchCitizens,dutch_nationality/i_am_a_dutch_citizen_and_would_like_to_acquire_anothe.html Dutch regulations] a person automatically loses the Dutch nationality if he voluntarily accepted another nationality before April 1, 2003. van den Berg has stated that as of 2004 he never verified his Dutch citizenship status.] He is married and has 2 children.cite web|url=http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/vandenberg-l.html |title=Payload Specialist Astronaut Bio: Lodewijk van den Berg |publisher=Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, NASA |date=May 1985|accessdate=2008-04-09] As of 2005, he resides in Florida and works as a chief scientist at the Constellation Technology Corporation.citation|title=Niet Wubbo maar Lodewijk van den Berg was de eerste|last=van Engelen |first=Gert |periodical=Delft Integraal |issue=2005, 3 |pages=23-26 |date= |language=Dutch |url=http://www.tudelft.nl/live/pagina.jsp?id=2b28a3d0-2131-4a70-a161-e6154cbfb254&lang=nl&binary=/doc/DI05-3-5LodewijkvdBerg.pdf |accessdate=2008-04-09]

Education and early career

Van den Berg was born on March 24, 1932, in Sluiskil, Netherlands. Van den Berg was educated in the Netherlands where he attended the Delft University of Technology from 1949 to 1961 and earned his Engineer's degree in chemical engineering. He moved to the United States to continue studying at the University of Delaware, where he took another masters degree, this time in applied science, and then his Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1974, also in applied science.

After he had completed his Ph.D., he was offered a job at EG&G Corporation Energy Measurements in Goleta, California, to work on crystal growth. EG&G was a defense contractor of the United States government and dealt with sensitive information and science. In 1975, this required Van den Berg to become a naturalized U.S. citizen.

paceflight

election

During his work at EG&G, Van den Berg asks NASA for permission to conduct crystal growth experiments in space, which NASA approved. Van den Berg and his colleagues designed the EG&G vapor growth crystal system experiment apparatus for a Space Shuttle flight. NASA decided that it would be easier to train a crystal growth scientist to become an astronaut, then it would be the other way around and so they asked EG&G and Van den Berg to compile a list of eight people who would qualify to perform the science experiments in space and to become a Payload Specialist. Van den Berg and his chief, Dr. Harold A. Lamonds could only come up with seven names. Lamonds subsequently proposed adding him to the list, joking with Van den Berg that due to his age, huge glasses and little strength, he would probably be dropped during the first selection round but at least they would have eight names. The first selection round however, consisted of a selection based on science qualifications in the field in question, which Van den Berg easily passed. The final four were tested on physical and mental qualifications which he also passed, while two of the others failed due to possible heart issues. He was now part of the final two, and NASA always trains two astronauts, a prime and a back-up. In 1983 he started to train as an astronaut and six months before the launch he was told that he would be the prime astronaut, much to his own surprise. When he went into space he was 53 years old, making him one of the oldest rookie astronauts.cite video|title=De `vergeten astronaut` |url=http://www.netwerk.tv/archief/10414/1018/De_en%23039%3Bvergeten_astronauten%23039%3B.html |medium=documentary |publisher=Netwerk, NCRV and EO |accessdate=2008-04-09 ]

TS-51B

Van den Berg was assigned as Payload Specialist on STS-51B "Challenger" (April 29–May 6 1985). STS-51B, the Spacelab-3 mission, was launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, and returned to land at Edwards Air Force Base, California. It was the first operational Spacelab mission. The seven-man crew aboard "Challenger" conducted investigations into crystal growth, drop dynamics leading to containerless material processing, atmospheric trace gas spectroscopy, solar and planetary atmospheric simulation, cosmic rays, and laboratory-animal and human medical monitoring. By the end of the mission, Van den Berg had traveled over 2.9 million miles in 110 Earth orbits, and logged over 168 hours in space.

Van den Berg has over twenty years of research and management experience in the preparation of crystalline materials — in particular, the growth of single crystals of chemical compounds, and the investigation of associated defect chemistry and electronic properties. where he is responsible for the operation of a crystal-growing facility, which produces various kinds of crystal by vapor transport methods. Van den Berg is a co-investigator on the Spacelab-3 mission Vapor Crystal Growth System (VCGS) experiment. In that capacity, he is responsible for the crystal growth aspects of the VCGS experiment. He has intimate knowledge of VCGS and Fluid Experiment System (FES) hardware, and has participated in all major design and science reviews of those systems. He has broad experience in crystal growth and characterization, including vapor transport, solution, and melt growth techniques. He is an international Authority on vapor growth techniques with an emphasis on mercuric iodide crystals and its application in the nuclear industry as gamma ray detectors.

Career after NASA

After returning to Earth, Van den Berg continued to work on crystal growth experiments at EG&G in California and he became the head for the section of materials science. At a later time he moved to Florida to become a chief scientist at the Constellation Technology Corporation. At his age, he continues to work up to 40 hours a week and grow crystals, a process he compares to gardening. The crystals he grows (Mercuric Iodide crystals [http://www.contech.com/Mercuric_Iodide_Detectors.htm] ) are used to make precision detectors for nuclear radiation. These detectors are used in medical applications, by the defense industry and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Asteroid

On September 28, 2007 the main belt asteroid 11430 (9560 P-L) was named after him and is now know as 11430 Lodewijkberg. [cite web|url=http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=11430|title=JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 11430 Lodewijkberg (9560 P-L)|accessdate=2008-06-26|publisher=NASA, Jet Propulsion Lab] The asteroid was discovered October 17, 1960 by Cornelis Johannes van Houten and Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld at Leiden Observatory on Palomar Schmidt plates taken by Tom Gehrels. [cite web|url=http://www.astronomie.nl/nieuws/669/elf__nederlanders_geven_naam_aan_planetoïde.html|title=Elf Nederlanders geven naam aan planetoïde|date=2007-10-28|accessdate=2008-06-26]

References

External links

* [http://www.contech.com Constellation Technology Corporation]
* [http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/astronauts/english/vandenberg_lodewijk.htm Spacefacts biography of Lodewijk van den Berg]