Byron K. Lichtenberg Status: Retired 2/19/1948 – Nationality: American Type: Government Agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Byron Kurt Lichtenberg, Sc. D. (born February 19, 1948) is an American engineer and fighter pilot who flew aboard two NASA Space Shuttle missions as a Payload Specialist. In 1983, he and Ulf Merbold became the first Payload Specialists to fly on the shuttle.