Olsen Credit - www.spacefacts.de

Personal: Male, Divorced, Two. Born in Brooklyn, New York, USA. PhD Inactive Entered space service: 6 July 2005. Left space service: 11 October 2005. Number of Flights: 1.00. Total Time: 9.89 days.

Official Sensors Unlimited Biography as of October 2005

Gregory H. Olsen, Ph.D. is chairman of the Board of Directors and co-founder of Sensors Unlimited Inc., a developer and manufacturer of optoelectronic devices for fiber optic communications systems, photonic and near infrared imaging devices. This cutting edge camera technology is revolutionizing detection capabilities and providing reliable, high performance products used for a variety of critical military, national security, telecommunications and industrial applications such as covert surveillance, machine vision, night vision, health and safety protocols, historical art inspection and many others.

Dr. Olsen co-founded Sensors Unlimited in 1991. Under his direction, the company has been profitable since its inception and grown into a world-class fiber optic component design, fabrication and supply operation without any outside investment. Sensors Unlimited dominates the supply and optimization of indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) technology and produces products that are technically superior to anything else in the market. InGaAs is essentially a photo-receptive semiconductor, sensitive to light in a particular range and the critical component of this camera technology. In 2000, Finisar Corp. acquired Sensors Unlimited for $700 million. Then in 2002, Olsen orchestrated a management buyback of the company.

In 1984, prior to his work at Sensors Unlimited, Dr. Olsen founded EPITAXX Inc., a high-technology company that manufactured fiber optic detectors and emitters. EPITAXX was aquired twice, once in 1990 by Nippon Sheet Glass for $12 million and again in 1999 by JDS Uniphase for $400 million. Before founding EPITAXX, Dr. Olsen was a member of the technical staff at RCA Laboratories (now Sarnoff Corporation in Princeton, New Jersey). At RCA, he developed numerous innovations in the field of optoelectronics, including the commercialization of InGaAs photodetectors and lasers. At RCA Laboratories, Dr. Olsen brought major innovations to the hydride vapor phase crystal growth of InGaAsP alloys and developed long-wavelength lasers and detectors. His fundamental studies on crystal defects brought about marked improvements in this highly technical industry. This work led to the commercial introduction of InGaAsP devices for fiber optics, near-infrared instrumentation and imaging applications that have since revolutionized our daily lives.

Dr. Olsen is an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Fellow and holds 12 U.S. patents. He has received numerous awards for his extensive accomplishments, including: the prestigious IEEE Laser & Electro-Optics Society (LEOS) "Aron Kressel" award for his unique and visionary work in progressing the use of InGaAs detectors for viable and pragmatic purposes and several RCA Laboratories' "Outstanding Achievement" awards. In addition, he was the first recipient of the American Association for Crystal Growth's "Young Authors" award. He was also named the New Jersey Institute of Technology's "Inventor of the Year", The United States Small Business Administration's "New Jersey Small Business Person of the Year", and the Arthur Young/Inc. Magazine "Entrepreneur of the Year".

Under Dr. Olsen's stewardship, Sensors Unlimited was named "Electronics Company of the Year" by the New Jersey Technology Council and was acknowledged multiple times by Deloitte & Touche in its celebrated "New Jersey Fast 50", which ranks the fastest growing New Jersey technology companies. The company was also recognized by PricewaterhouseCoopers and Business News New Jersey as the top privately held company in New Jersey.

Dr. Olsen is a noted lecturer and author. He has delivered numerous lectures and was named a Distinguished Lecturer by the IEEE & LEOS. Dr. Olsen has written more than 100 papers, co-authored several books on crystal growth and semiconductor devices and frequently authors general interest articles for trade journals.

Dr. Olsen serves on advisory committees to Princeton University, the University of Southern California Photonics Center, the University of Florida Microelectronics Center, the University of Virginia and the City College of New York. He currently is a member of the Board of Directors of Princeton Power Systems, Achieve 3000 and Eye Response Technologies.

Dr. Olsen has taken a leadership role in many technical societies, including the International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE), the Electrochemical Society, IEEE Electro, IEEE & LEOS and the NJ Crystal Growth Association. He has contributed throughout his career to numerous technical conferences, including AACG Conferences, Optical Fiber Conferences (OFC) and LEOS Conferences. He is a member of the LEOS Board of Governors and an investor in the New Jersey Technology Council Venture Fund. Dr. Olsen started his career as a visiting scientist in the Physics Department at the University of Port Elizabeth, South Africa. He received a B.S. in physics, a BSEE and M.S. in physics (magna cum laude) from Fairleigh Dickinson University and a Ph.D. in materials science from the University of Virginia.

• 1 October 2005 Flight: ISS EP-9. Flight Up: Soyuz TMA-7. Flight Back: Soyuz TMA-6. Flight Time: 9.89 days.

15 April 2005 - Soyuz TMA-6. The Soyuz TMA-6 docked with International Space Station's Pirs module at 02:20 GMT on April 17. Commander of the long-duration EO-11 crew was Russian cosmonaut Sergey Krikalyov. Flight engineer and science officer was American astronaut John Phillips. Italian Roberto Vittori accompanied the EO-10 crew aboard Soyuz TMA-6 to the station on the European Space Agency EP-8 Eneide mission.

Expedition 11 Commander Sergei Krikalev and NASA Science Officer John Phillips also spent some time packing up for their own return home, readying their launch and entry suits. They checked out the Soyuz spacecraft that brought them to the station April 16 to make sure it is ready to take them back to Earth.

The 12th crew of the station, Commander and NASA Science Officer William McArthur and Valery Tokarev, flight engineer and Soyuz commander, are scheduled to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan tonight at about 10:55 p.m. CDT. NASA Television coverage of the launch will begin at 10 p.m.

The new crew is scheduled to dock with the station a little after 12:30 a.m. on Monday. NASA Television coverage of the docking will begin at 11p.m. Sunday.

With the Expedition 12 crew will be spaceflight participant Gregory Olsen, an American businessman traveling to the station under a contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency. He will spend about eight days on the station and return to Earth with Krikalev and Phillips. Their landing is scheduled for about 8:10 p.m. CDT Oct. 10 on the steppes of Kazakhstan.

Thursday managers at Mission Control Moscow said launch preparations were moving along flawlessly. Managers at Mission Control Houston said the station was ready to receive the new crew.

McArthur and Tokarev will spend the eight days they will share with their predecessors aboard the station in intensive handover briefings, learning about the spacecraft's systems, processes, procedures, scientific experiments, the location of equipment and supplies. In short, they will be trying to learn all they still need to know before they begin their months in orbit alone.

Krikalev and Phillips began the week with NASA flight controllers in Moscow exercising primary mission control. Mission Control Houston and the rest of Johnson Space Center were closed because of the threat of Hurricane Rita. Houston flight controllers resumed normal operations at 9 a.m. Monday.

On Tuesday Krikalev and Phillips each spent more than an hour familiarizing themselves with Olsen's scientific experiments. On Wednesday they continued preparations for arrival of the new crew, and on Thursday did predocking tests and more preparation for their own departure. Phillips regenerated METOX carbon dioxide absorbing cartridges for U.S. spacesuits. McArthur and Tokarev have a spacewalk scheduled in those suits in November.

Today's schedule includes maintenance of the Elektron oxygen generating system, functioning again after Krikalev replaced its liquids unit two weeks ago.

A Soyuz spacecraft carried Expedition 12 Commander and NASA Science Officer William McArthur and Flight Engineer Valery Tokarev to orbit. Gregory Olsen rode with them, beginning a 10-day space mission as part of a commercial contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency.

The Soyuz launched at 10:55 p.m. CDT from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. At the time, the station was flying in a southeasterly direction about 230 miles above the South Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Chile. With Tokarev at the controls, the Soyuz is on course to catch up and dock with the station at 12:32 a.m. Monday, Oct. 3.

The hatches between the arriving Soyuz spacecraft and the station will be opened at about 3:25 a.m. Monday. Live NASA Television coverage of the docking will begin at 11 p.m. Sunday.

Tokarev and McArthur will stay aboard the station until the spring, while Olsen will spend eight days there conducting experiments.

Expedition 11 Commander Sergei Krikalev and Flight Engineer and NASA Science Officer John Phillips have been doing research and maintaining station systems since April. With Olsen, they will undock from the station and return to Earth Oct. 10.

With Expedition 12 Flight Engineer and Soyuz Commander Valery Tokarev at the controls, the Soyuz TMA-7 spacecraft automatically linked up to the Pirs Docking Compartment at 12:27 a.m. CDT as the Soyuz and the station flew over eastern Asia. Within minutes, hooks and latches between the two vehicles joined together to form a hard mate.

Aboard the Soyuz with Tokarev were NASA Expedition 12 Commander and Science Officer Bill McArthur and U.S. Spaceflight Participant Gregory Olsen, who will spend eight days on the complex under a commercial agreement with the Russian Federal Space Agency.

After two orbits worth of systems checks, hatches between the Soyuz and the station were opened at 3:36 a.m. CDT. Expedition 11 Commander Sergei Krikalev and NASA Flight Engineer and Science Officer John Phillips greeted their colleagues with handshakes and hugs and the traditional offering of bread and salt. The first activity scheduled for the five crewmembers was a safety briefing to familiarize the newly arrived trio with emergency escape procedures. For Krikalev and Phillips, today marked their 171st day in space and their 169th day on the station since they arrived in April.

McArthur and Tokarev will remain on board the station until April 2006. Olsen will return to Earth next week after eight days of scientific and photography experiments with Krikalev and Phillips in the Soyuz TMA-6 spacecraft that is docked to the Zarya module. The new crew launched Saturday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for its two-day journey to the outpost.

McArthur and Tokarev are scheduled to relocate the new Soyuz from Pirs to Zarya on Nov. 18.

Among the NASA officials on hand for the docking activities at the Russian Mission Control Center outside Moscow were William Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for space operations, and Bob Cabana, the deputy director of the Johnson Space Center.

Later today, before beginning an extended sleep period, the new crewmembers will transfer Olsen's custom-made Soyuz seatliner to the older Soyuz he will ride home in as well as cargo carried aloft on the new Soyuz for the complex. In addition, initial briefings on the handover from the current residents to their replacements will be conducted and the new Soyuz' systems will be deactivated.

Over the next week, McArthur and Tokarev will familiarize themselves with station systems and stowed equipment, conduct robotics training with the Canadarm2 robot arm, and receive detailed briefings on scientific payloads.

McArthur, Tokarev and Olsen arrived at the space station at 12:27 a.m. CDT Monday, Oct. 3, and entered the orbital laboratory at 3:36 a.m. For McArthur and Tokarev, the station will serve as home for the next six months.

The crews began joint activities with safety briefings and a review of emergency escape procedures. The remainder of the first day together for the two crews included initial handover briefings, deactivation of the Soyuz spacecraft and drying and stowage of the Russian Sokol spacesuits worn during launch.

Handover activities continued throughout the week. On Tuesday, Expedition 11 Flight Engineer John Phillips and McArthur reviewed robotic arm software that provides graphical depictions of the station's exterior to aid in arm operations. The following day, the two performed several maneuvers using the Canadarm2 to acquaint the new crew with how the robotic arm behaves in the space environment.

The crews also conducted experiments. The studies included the Intercellular Interactions experiment, a Russian study of the effect of microgravity on cell surfaces and intercellular interactions, and an experiment that studies the process of genetic material transmission in bacteria. Other experiment work included a study of the growth and development of higher plants in space, a study of changes in the human cardiovascular system in orbit and an investigation designed to help researchers understand the effect of radiation exposure on human organs.

The crews also fielded questions from media during a news conference and several interviews and received a special phone call from Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov. Fradkov congratulated the crews on their work and discussed his country's commitment to the international space station program.

Also this week, the crews installed radiation monitors and temperature sensor switching units, inspected U.S. emergency power supplies and smoke detectors, and replaced a laptop computer.

The crews will have some brief off-duty time this weekend, but will focus on completing handover and preparations for Expedition 11's return home. Expedition 11 Commander Sergei Krikalev and Phillips are scheduled to undock from the station at 4:43 p.m. CDT and land at 8:09 p.m. CDT on Monday in Kazakhstan.

NASA Television coverage of the crew's farewells will begin at 1 p.m. CDT Monday as they say their goodbyes and close the hatches between the station and the Soyuz spacecraft. NASA TV coverage of the undocking will begin at 4 p.m. CDT. Coverage of the deorbit burn will begin at 6:45 p.m. and continue through landing. The deorbit burn is scheduled for 7:19 p.m.

The Soyuz spacecraft with Krikalev, Phillips and Olsen landed in north-central Kazakhstan, about 53 miles (85 kilometers) northeast of Arkalyk, at 8:09 p.m. CDT. The crew's families will greet them at Star City, Russia, near Moscow, early tomorrow. Krikalev and Phillips will remain in Star City for post-flight debriefings before returning to Houston in late October. Krikalev and Phillips launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, April 14. They spent 179 days, 23 minutes in space. During their mission, they welcomed the Space Shuttle Discovery crew as it returned the shuttle to flight on STS-114.

While on the station, Krikalev amassed more time in space than any human. He is a veteran of six spaceflights, including two to the Russian space station Mir, two shuttle flights, and the first international space station expedition. Krikalev has 803 days, 9 hours and 39 minutes of time in space. On Aug. 16, he surpassed the previous record set by Cosmonaut Sergei Avdeyev of 747 days, 14 hours and 14 minutes.

The new station crew, Expedition 12 Commander and NASA Science Officer Bill McArthur and Flight Engineer Valery Tokarev, will have light duty for the next few days as they rest from a busy handover. They will remain in orbit six months, during which they are planned to perform at least two spacewalks. The first spacewalk will occur in early November.