As of 2021, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

is the country of birth to three astronauts. Two of the three astronauts flew to space on board a

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...

while

André Kuipers André Kuipers (; born 5 October 1958) is a Dutch physician and ESA astronaut. He became the second Dutch citizen, third Dutch-born and fifth Dutch-speaking astronaut upon launch of Soyuz TMA-4 on 19 April 2004. Kuipers returned to Earth abo ...

used the Russian

Soyuz Soyuz is a transliteration of the Cyrillic text Союз (Russian and Ukrainian, 'Union'). It can refer to any union, such as a trade union (''profsoyuz'') or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Сою́з Сове́тских Социалис� ...

to reach space.

Lodewijk van den Berg

The first Dutch-born astronaut to have been to space is

Lodewijk van den Berg Lodewijk van den Berg (; March 24, 1932 – October 16, 2022) was a Dutch-born American chemical engineer. He studied crystal growth and flew on a 1985 Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' mission as a payload specialist. Van den Berg was born in t ...

. He was born on 24 March 1932 in

Sluiskil Sluiskil is a village in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is a part of the municipality of Terneuzen, and lies about 27 km southeast of Vlissingen. The village was first mentioned in 1839 as Sluiskil, and means "exit canal of the sluice". Th ...

Zeeland , nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge") , anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem") , image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg , map_alt = , m ...

. Van den Berg was launched aboard Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' on April 29, 1985, as a Payload Specialist of mission

STS-51B STS-51-B was the 17th flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program, and the seventh flight of Space Shuttle ''Challenger''. The launch of ''Challenger'' on April 29, 1985, was delayed by 2 minutes and 18 seconds, due to a launch processing failure ...

. During the seven-day mission, he conducted several experiments on crystal growth. At the time of his flight, Van den Berg was not a Dutch citizen, having been naturalised as United States citizen; by Dutch law he had to revoke his citizenship.

Wubbo Ockels

The second Dutch-born astronaut and first Dutch citizen to have been to space is

Wubbo Ockels Wubbo Johannes Ockels (28 March 1946 – 18 May 2014) was a Dutch physicist and astronaut with the European Space Agency who, in 1985, became the first Dutch citizen in space when he flew on STS-61-A as a payload specialist. He later becam ...

. He was born on 28 March 1946 in

Almelo Almelo () is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands. The main population centres in the town are Aadorp, Almelo, Mariaparochie, and Bornerbroek. Almelo has about 72,000 inhabitants in the middle of the rolling countryside of Twente, ...

Overijssel Overijssel (, ; nds, Oaveriessel ; german: Oberyssel) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the eastern part of the country. The province's name translates to "across the IJssel", from the perspective of the ...

. Ockels rocketed towards space aboard Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' on October 30, 1985 – just over half a year after Lodewijk van den Berg – as a Payload Specialist of mission

STS-61A STS-61-A (also known as Spacelab D-1) was the 22nd mission of NASA's Space Shuttle program. It was a scientific Spacelab mission, funded and directed by West Germany – hence the non-NASA designation of D-1 (for Deutschland-1). STS-61-A was th ...

. He died on 18 May 2014 in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

André Kuipers

The third Dutch-born astronaut and second Dutch citizen to have been to space is

. He was born 5 October 1958 in

. Kuipers, unlike his two predecessors, was launched by a Soyuz spacecraft:

Soyuz TMA-4 Soyuz TMA-4 was a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station (ISS) launched by a Soyuz FG launch vehicle. It was launched on April 19, 2004 (UTC) from Baikonur Cosmodrome. Gennady Padalka from Russia, Michael Fincke from the US and And ...

. He served as

flight engineer A flight engineer (FE), also sometimes called an air engineer, is the member of an aircraft's flight crew who monitors and operates its complex aircraft systems. In the early era of aviation, the position was sometimes referred to as the "air me ...

. During his eleven-day trip towards the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...

(ISS), he conducted twenty-one experiments on a wide range of subjects. Kuipers's second mission was ISS Expedition 30 (as Flight Engineer 4); he also participated in ISS Expedition 31 (as Flight Engineer 1). He was launched from

Baikonur Baikonur ( kk, Байқоңыр, ; russian: Байконур, translit=Baykonur), formerly known as Leninsk, is a city of republic significance in Kazakhstan on the northern bank of the Syr Darya river. It is currently leased and administered ...

on 21 December 2011 and returned on 1 July 2012.

Oliver Daemen

While Dutch native Oliver Daemen (born 20 August 2002) was part of the

Blue Origin NS-16 Blue Origin NS-16 was a sub-orbital spaceflight mission operated by Blue Origin which flew on 20 July 2021. The mission was the sixteenth flight of the company's New Shepard integrated launch vehicle and spacecraft, and its first crewed flight ...

flight on 20 July 2021, this was a

sub-orbital A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the atmosphere or surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched, so that it will not complete one orbital re ...

commercial spaceflight. To distinguish between space tourism and professional astronauts, the term

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

is reserved for the latter category and as such, Daemen is not considered an astronaut.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Dutch Astronauts

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

Astronauts An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...