The Most Famous
ASTRONAUTS from Netherlands
This page contains a list of the greatest Dutch Astronauts. The pantheon dataset contains 556 Astronauts, 3 of which were born in Netherlands. This makes Netherlands the birth place of the 13th most number of Astronauts behind United Kingdom, and Belarus.
Top 3
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Dutch Astronauts of all time. This list of famous Dutch Astronauts is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Wubbo Ockels (1946 - 2014)
With an HPI of 50.09, Wubbo Ockels is the most famous Dutch Astronaut. His biography has been translated into 28 different languages on wikipedia.
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 became professor of aerospace engineering at Delft University of Technology.
2. Lodewijk van den Berg (1932 - 2022)
With an HPI of 48.12, Lodewijk van den Berg is the 2nd most famous Dutch Astronaut. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.
Lodewijk van den Berg (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈloːdəʋɛik fɑn dəm ˈbɛr(ə)x]; 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 the Netherlands and was an astronaut; he was a naturalized American and not a Dutch citizen when he flew on the Challenger. He was married and had two children. He lived in Florida and worked as a chief scientist at the Constellation Technology Corporation.
3. André Kuipers (b. 1958)
With an HPI of 45.23, André Kuipers is the 3rd most famous Dutch Astronaut. His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.
André Kuipers (Dutch: [ˈɑndreː ˈkœypərs] ; 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 aboard Soyuz TMA-3 11 days later. Kuipers is the first Dutch astronaut to return to space. On 5 August 2009, Dutch minister of economic affairs Maria van der Hoeven, announced Kuipers was selected as an astronaut for International Space Station (ISS) Expeditions 30 and 31. He was launched to space on 21 December 2011 and returned to Earth on 1 July 2012.
People
Pantheon has 3 people classified as Dutch astronauts born between 1932 and 1958. Of these 3, 1 (33.33%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Dutch astronauts include André Kuipers. The most famous deceased Dutch astronauts include Wubbo Ockels, and Lodewijk van den Berg.
