Celebrating Asian-American Heritage Month: Eugene Trinh, first Vietnamese-American astronaut

Eugene Trinh, born September 14, 1950 in Saigon, Vietnam, is the first Vietnamese-American to go into space.  He went aboard Columbia (STS-50) as a Payload Specialist in June-July 1992. 

He was Director of the Physical Sciences Research Division at NASA.  He received the Golden Torch Award from the Vietnamese American National Gala in Washington DC.  

Columbia (STS-50) launched 1992

STS-50 (L-R): Ellen Baker, Kenneth Bowersox, Bonnie Dunbar, Richard Richards, Carl Meade, Eugene Trinh, Lawrence DeLucas

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-50), launched June 25, 1992, was the first flight of the U.S. Microgravity Laboratory and the first to land at Kennedy Space Center due to bad weather at Edwards caused by the remnants of Hurricane Darby.  Its crew consisted of Commander Richard Richards, Pilot Kenneth Bowersox, Bonnie Dunbar, Ellen Baker, Carl Meade, Lawrence DeLucas and Eugene Trinh (the first Vietnamese astronaut).

Happy birthday, Eugene Trinh, first Vietnamese-American astronaut!

Eugene Trinh, born September 14, 1950 in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), South Vietnam, is the first Vietnamese-American in space!  Although born in South Vietnam, his ancestry is Chinese, since his great-grandfather immigrated from China in the last 1800's.  He moved with his parents to Paris, France when he was two and graduated from college in 1968.  He came to America and received degrees in Columbia University, including a PhD from Yale in 1975.

He served as a payload specialist on the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-50) in June-July 1992.  It was his only mission with NASA.