Bjarni Valdimar Tryggvason (September 21, 1945 – April 5, 2022) was an Icelandic-born Canadian engineer and a NRC/CSA astronaut. He served as a Payload Specialist on Space Shuttle mission STS-85 in 1997, a nearly 12-day mission to study changes in the Earth's atmosphere. Bjarni is the first, and , only Canadian astronaut of Icelandic birth.

Early life

Tryggvason was born in Reykjavík on September 21, 1945. He moved to Canada with his parents when he was eight, and grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia. After attending high school in Richmond, British Columbia, he obtained a B.A.Sc. degree in engineering physics from the University of British Columbia in 1972, and subsequently studied at the postgraduate level in engineering with specialization in applied mathematics and fluid dynamics at the University of Western Ontario.

CSA career

Tryggvason was one of the six Canadian astronauts selected in December 1983, and was the first Canadian astronaut born in Iceland. He returned to teaching at the University of Western Ontario. He also taught at the International Test Pilots School in London, Ontario, and continued to serve as a test pilot.

On February 22, 2009, Tryggvason piloted a replica of Alexander Graham Bell's Silver Dart, from the ice on Baddeck Bay, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. The flight commemorated the centennial of the first flight in Canada and the British Empire. Due to poor weather conditions expected on the next day, the flight occurred one day before the actual centenary of the original Silver Dart's flight.

Personal life and death

Tryggvason had two children.

Honors and affiliations

Tryggvason was a member of the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute. He was awarded an honorary D.Sc. degree from the University of Western Ontario in 1998, an honorary Dr. Techn. degree from the University of Iceland in 2000, and an honorary D.Eng. degree from the University of Victoria in 2005. He was furthermore awarded the NASA Space Flight Medal in 1997, the Innovators Award of the Canadian Space Agency in 2004, and the Knight's Cross of the Icelandic Order of the Falcon in 2000.

References

  • Spacefacts biography of Bjarni Tryggvason