National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center
Houston, Texas 77058

Biographical Data

NAME: Bjarni V. Tryggvason

Canadian Space Agency Astronaut (Mission Specialist Candidate)

PERSONAL DATA:

Born September 21, 1945, in Reykjavik, Iceland, but considers Vancouver, B.C., to be his hometown. He has two children. Mr. Tryggvason has about 4,000 hours of flight experience, holds an Airline Transport Rating and has been a flight instructor for 10 years. He is currently active in aerobatic flight and is qualified as Captain in the Tutor jet trainer with the Canadian Air Force. He maintains a high level of physical fitness, enjoys scuba diving, skiing, and has made 17 parachute jumps.

EDUCATION:

Attended primary schools in Nova Scotia and British Columbia; completed high school in Richmond, B.C. He received a Bachelor of Applied Science in Engineering Physics from the University of British Columbia in 1972 and did postgraduate work in engineering with specialization in applied mathematics and fluid dynamics at the University of Western Ontario.

ORGANIZATIONS:

Member of the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute.

SPECIAL HONORS:

Recipient of numerous scholarships throughout his university years.

EXPERIENCE:

Worked as a meteorologist with the cloud physics group at the Atmospheric Environment Service in Toronto in 1972 and 1973. In 1974, he joined the University of Western Ontario to work as a research associate at the Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel Laboratory working on projects involving rigid and aero-elastic model studies of wind effects on structures.

In 1978, he was a guest research associate at Kyoto University, Japan, followed by a similar position at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia. In late 1979, he returned to the University of Western Ontario as a lecturer in applied mathematics.

In 1982, he joined the Low Speed Aerodynamics Laboratory at the National Research Council (NRC) in Ottawa. He became part of the NRC team assembled to study the sinking of the Ocean Ranger oil rig in support of the Royal Commission investigation into that tragedy. He designed and led the aerodynamics tests, which established the wind loads acting on the rig.

He was one of the six Canadian astronauts selected in December 1983. He was back-up Payload Specialist to Steve MacLean for the CANEX-2 set of experiments which flew on Mission STS-52, October 22 to November 1, 1992. He was the Project Engineer for the design of the SVS target spacecraft which was deployed during that mission.

He is the principal investigator in the development of the Large Motion Isolation Mount (LMIM) which has flown numerous times on NASA’s KC-135 and DC-9 aircrafts. He is also the principal investigator in the development of the Microgravity vibration Isolation Mount (MIM). The MIM has been in operation on board the Russian Mir Space Station since April 1996. He led the development of a second generation MIM-2 which was tested on STS-85.

He was active in supervising undergraduate student projects at several universities across Canada. Between 1982 and 1992, he was a part-time lecturer at the University of Ottawa and Carleton University, teaching graduate courses on structural dynamics and random vibrations.

He also served as a Canadian Space Agency representative on the NASA Microgravity Measurement Working Group, and the International Space Station (ISS) Microgravity AIT (Analysis and Integration Team).

NASA EXPERIENCE:

Tryggvason served as a Payload Specialist on STS-85 (August 7-19, 1997), a 12 day mission to study changes in the Earth’s atmosphere. During the flight, he focused on testing the Microgravity Vibration Isolation Mount (MIM) and performing fluid science experiments designed to examine sensitivity to spacecraft vibrations. This work is directed at developing better understanding of the need for systems such as the MIM on the International Space Station and on the effect of vibrations on the many experiments to be performed on the ISS. The mission was accomplished in 189 Earth orbits, traveling 4.7 million miles in 284 hours and 27 minutes.

In August 1998, Tryggvason again reported to the Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas. He will attend Astronaut Candidate Training which includes orientation briefings and tours, numerous scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in Shuttle and International Space Station systems, physiological training and ground school to prepare for T-38 flight training, as well as learning water and wilderness survival techniques. Following a period of training and evaluation, Tryggvason will receive technical assignments within the Astronaut Office before being assigned to a space flight.