04-01-2020, 03:37 AM
Reimar Lüst (25 March 1923 – 31 March 2020)[1] was a German astrophysicist. He worked for the European space science from its beginning, as scientific director of the European Space Research Organisation (ESRO) from 1962, and as Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA) from 1984 until 1990.
Lüst taught internationally, and influenced German politics as chairman of the Wissenschaftsratfrom 1969 to 1972. He was the president of the German Max Planck Society from 1972 to 1984. As chairman of the board of the Jacobs University Bremen, he shaped the international university towards excellence. His awards include Officer of the Légion d’Honneur and the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Lüst was born on 25 March 1923 in Barmen (now part of Wuppertal) in North Rhine-Westphalia).[1] At age 10, he attended the Humanistisches Gymnasium in Kassel, but his education was interrupted in 1941 by military service with the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) in World War II.[1] In the navy, he served as a lieutenant engineer on submarines. He was a prisoner-of-war in England and the U.S. from 1943 to 1946.[1]
After being released, Lüst returned to his education in 1946. He received his B.S. in physics from the University of Frankfurt am Main in 1949, and his doctorate from the University of Göttingen in 1951.[1] He was an assistant at the Max Planck Institute in Göttingen from 1951.[2] He was selected as a Fulbright Fellow at the Enrico Fermi Institute of the University of Chicago, and at Princeton University in 1955/56.[2] He was professor at the University of New York, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena.[2] He is credited with contributions the "origins of the planetary system, solar physics, the physics of cosmic rays, plasma physics, hydrodynamics and to the physics of nuclear fusion"[2]
Lüst was interested in European space science from the beginning as "Commission préparatoire européenne de recherches spatiales" (COPERS). He began as Secretary of the Scientific and Technical Working Group, and became Scientific Director of the European Space Research Organisation (ESRO) in 1962, where he influenced the scientific programme until 1964. He was its Vice President from 1968 to 1970-70. Lüst was chairman of the Wissenschaftsrat, an adversary board for German national ans state politics, from 1969 to 1972.[2] [2] For ESRO, he was involved in sounding rocket launches, and with satellites for studies of the upper atmosphere and the planetary medium, directing experiments on the ESRO-IV, HEOS-A and COS-B satellites.[2]
Lüst was president of the German Max Planck Society from 1972 to 1984, and the third Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA) from 1984 until 1990.[1][2] Afterwards, he served as president and later honorary president of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Bonn, as professor at the University of Hamburg, and as chairman and from 2005 honorary chairman of the board of the international Jacobs University Bremen.[2]
Lüst was married to Nina Grunenberg-Lüst (d. 2017), and had two sons from his first marriage to Rhea Lüst.[1] Lüst died on 31 March 2020, days after his 97th birthday.[1]
More at Wikipedia.
Lüst taught internationally, and influenced German politics as chairman of the Wissenschaftsratfrom 1969 to 1972. He was the president of the German Max Planck Society from 1972 to 1984. As chairman of the board of the Jacobs University Bremen, he shaped the international university towards excellence. His awards include Officer of the Légion d’Honneur and the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Lüst was born on 25 March 1923 in Barmen (now part of Wuppertal) in North Rhine-Westphalia).[1] At age 10, he attended the Humanistisches Gymnasium in Kassel, but his education was interrupted in 1941 by military service with the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) in World War II.[1] In the navy, he served as a lieutenant engineer on submarines. He was a prisoner-of-war in England and the U.S. from 1943 to 1946.[1]
After being released, Lüst returned to his education in 1946. He received his B.S. in physics from the University of Frankfurt am Main in 1949, and his doctorate from the University of Göttingen in 1951.[1] He was an assistant at the Max Planck Institute in Göttingen from 1951.[2] He was selected as a Fulbright Fellow at the Enrico Fermi Institute of the University of Chicago, and at Princeton University in 1955/56.[2] He was professor at the University of New York, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena.[2] He is credited with contributions the "origins of the planetary system, solar physics, the physics of cosmic rays, plasma physics, hydrodynamics and to the physics of nuclear fusion"[2]
Lüst was interested in European space science from the beginning as "Commission préparatoire européenne de recherches spatiales" (COPERS). He began as Secretary of the Scientific and Technical Working Group, and became Scientific Director of the European Space Research Organisation (ESRO) in 1962, where he influenced the scientific programme until 1964. He was its Vice President from 1968 to 1970-70. Lüst was chairman of the Wissenschaftsrat, an adversary board for German national ans state politics, from 1969 to 1972.[2] [2] For ESRO, he was involved in sounding rocket launches, and with satellites for studies of the upper atmosphere and the planetary medium, directing experiments on the ESRO-IV, HEOS-A and COS-B satellites.[2]
Lüst was president of the German Max Planck Society from 1972 to 1984, and the third Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA) from 1984 until 1990.[1][2] Afterwards, he served as president and later honorary president of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Bonn, as professor at the University of Hamburg, and as chairman and from 2005 honorary chairman of the board of the international Jacobs University Bremen.[2]
Lüst was married to Nina Grunenberg-Lüst (d. 2017), and had two sons from his first marriage to Rhea Lüst.[1] Lüst died on 31 March 2020, days after his 97th birthday.[1]
More at Wikipedia.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.