Ed Lu

Ed Lu is a former NASA astronaut who flew three space missions including 6 months on the International Space Station.

From 2007-2010, he led the Advanced Projects group at Google, where his teams developed imaging technology for Google Earth/Maps, Google Street View, and energy information products including Google PowerMeter.

He is the co-inventor of the Gravity Tractor, a spacecraft able to controllably alter the orbit of an asteroid.  He has published scientific articles on high-energy astrophysics, solar physics, plasma physics, cosmology, and statistical physics.  He holds a PhD in astrophysics from Stanford University, and a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University.