tary test pilots so I figured I would have to do that, too,” Lichtenberg added.
Even after graduating from Brown University in 1969 and completing a tour of duty as a decorated fighter pilot with the Air Force in Vietnam, Lichtenberg didn’t lose the yearning to explore space. It’s what propelled him off active duty and back to graduate school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for master’s and doctoral degrees in mechanical and biomedical engineering.
“I realized if I was a fighter pilot with a doctorate, I would have a better chance of getting into space,” he said.
His links with the Westfield community were strong during his days as an astronaut; a group of middle-school students and civic and business leaders were at Cape Canaveral for the liftoff of his journey aboard shuttle Atlantis. He worked to inspire a new generation of space traveler who would follow in his footsteps.
It’s been 12 years since Lichtenberg was last in Florida to see a space shuttle launch; that one was the final mission of the Spacelab. “That was the end of era,” he said on Thursday. “This (too) is the end of an era. It’s a chance for me to see a lot of old friends and experience this one last time.”