ASTRONAUT ED LU LEAVES NASA

Aug. 10, 2007

Allard Beutel
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-4769
allard.beutel@xxxxxxxx

Kylie Clem
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
kylie.s.clem@xxxxxxxx

RELEASE: 07-176

ASTRONAUT ED LU LEAVES NASA

HOUSTON - Veteran International Space Station astronaut and space
shuttle flyer Ed Lu has left NASA to accept a position in the private
sector. Lu flew on two shuttle missions and lived six months aboard
the station as a member of the orbiting laboratory's seventh crew.

"Ed has done an exceptional job as an astronaut during his twelve
years of service," said Chief of the Astronaut Office Steve Lindsey.
"He contributed greatly to the construction and operations on the
International Space Station, particularly in the very difficult
period after the Columbia tragedy. Additionally, his involvement in
development of the Crew Exploration Vehicle will help NASA
tremendously as we look forward to exploring our solar system. He
will be missed by the Astronaut Office and NASA. We wish him the very
best in his future endeavors."

Lu's experience includes more than six hours spacewalking. He was the
first American to launch as flight engineer of a Russian Soyuz
spacecraft as well as the first American to both launch and land on a
Soyuz. He has visited two space stations on his missions.

Selected as an astronaut in 1994, Lu first flew in May 1997 aboard
Atlantis for the STS-84 mission, the sixth shuttle mission to visit
the Russian space station Mir. He next flew in 2000 on mission
STS-106, also aboard Atlantis, performing a spacewalk during that
flight to help outfit the Zvezda module of the International Space
Station, the outpost's living quarters. Launching on the Soyuz, Lu
returned to the International Space Station in 2003 as flight
engineer and NASA science officer of Expedition 7, the first
two-person resident crew.

For more biographical information about Lu, visit:

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/lu.html

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov



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Jacques :-)

www.spacepatches.nl


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