National Aeronautics and Space Administration Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center Houston, Texas 77058
Biographical Data

Ernst Messerschmid (Ph.D.)
Payload Specialist

PERSONAL DATA: Born May 21, 1945 in Reutlingen, Federal Republic of Germany. Married. He enjoys skiing and sailing.

EDUCATION: Matriculation examination at Technisches Gymnasium in Stuttgart, 1965, then military service, 1965-1967. Studied physics at the Universities of Tubingen and Bonn, fellowships for Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes and CERN. Received a diploma in physics, 1972, and a doctor of philosophy degree in physics, 1976.

SPECIAL HONORS/AWARDS: Wiss. Gesellschaft in Freiburg i. Br., 1976.

TECHNICAL PAPERS:

• Diploma Thesis, 1972, Messerschmid, E., Stacking Efficiency of Protons Into CERN Intersecting Storage Rings.
• Ph.D. Thesis, University of Freiburg i. Br., 1976, Messerschmid, E., Longitudinal Instabilities of Relativistic Proton Beams in Synchrotrons.
• Dr. Messerschmid has also published 34 papers in conference proceedings and journals. Keywords: longitudinal instabilities, intersecting storage rings, phase displacement acceleration, stacking efficiency, bunch lengthening, maritime distress radio call systems, EPIRB, emergency locator transmitter, satellite stored channel simulator, Spacelab D1-Mission.

EXPERIENCE:

• 1970-1975 Visiting Scientist and Fellow at CERN (Geneva). Experimental and Theoretical work on proton beams in accelerators and plasmas.
• 1975-1976 Freiburg University and Brookhaven National Laboratory (New York). Lecturer and Research Associate. Invented adiabatic phase displacement acceleration.
• 1977 Design of beam optics for PETRA electron storage rings at DESY (Hamburg).
• 1978-1982 DFVLR, Institute of Communications Technology at Oberpfaffenhofen. Research in the area of space-borne communications (search and rescue satellite system, satellite navigation); CCIR delegate. Lectures on control theory at Stuttgart University (Berufsakademie).
• 1983 Member of D-1 Project, Science Astronaut on D-1 Mission.

SPACE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE: Dr. Messerschmid flew as a payload specialist on the crew of STS-61A Challenger (October 30 to November 6, 1985). STS-61A was the West German D-1 Spacelab mission. It was the first to carry eight crew members, the largest to fly in space, and was also the first in which payload activities were controlled from outside the United States. More than 75 scientific experiments were completed in the areas of physiological sciences, materials science, biology, and navigation. At mission conclusion Dr. Messerschmid had traveled 2.5 million miles in 110 Earth orbits and had logged over 168 hours in space.

NOVEMBER 1985

This is the only version available from NASA. Updates must be sought direct from the above named individual.