Wubbo Ockels

Who is Wubbo Ockels?

Wubbo Johannes Ockels is a Dutch physicist and a former astronaut of the European Space Agency. In 1985 he participated in a flight on a space shuttle, making him the first Dutch citizen in space. He was not the first Dutch-born astronaut, as he is preceded by the naturalized American Lodewijk van den Berg, who flew on STS-51-B. Ockels is currently professor of Aerospace for Sustainable Engineering and Technology at the Delft University of Technology. On May 29, 2013 it was announced that Ockels has a aggressive form of kidney cancer with a metastasis in his pleural cavity, and a life expectancy of one to two years.