Byron K. Lichtenberg

Sc.B., aerospace engineering, Brown University (1969)

S.M., mechanical engineering, MIT (1975)

Sc.D., biomedical engineering, MIT (1979)

Sc.D., Westminster College (honorary)

From 1978 to 1984 he was a researcher for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)/Canadian Vestibular experiments on Spacelab 1, Spacelab D-1, Spacelab SLS-1 and SLS-2, and a co-principal investigator for the Mental Workload and Performance experiment flown on IML-1 to assess human-computer workstation characteristics for the Space Station.

He was a founder of Payload Systems, Inc., a company that has provided hardware and flight support for MODE and MACE experiments for the Space Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS). They also were the first commercial user of the Mir Space Station, flying protein crystal growth experiments to Mir in the early 1990s. He is now the Chief Technical Officer of Zero Gravity Corporation, founded to make parabolic, weightless aircraft flights available to the general public. He was a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot for 23 years, flying the F-4, F-100, and A-10, reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Massachusetts Air National Guard. Lichtenberg flew 138 combat missions during the Vietnam War, and received two Distinguished Flying Crosses, ten Air Medals, and numerous other decorations. He flew as a captain for Southwest Airlines and is now a professor at LeTourneau University in Longview Texas.