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Gregory Hammond "Greg" Olsen (b. April 20 , 1945 ) is an American entrepreneur and scientist who in October 2005 became the third private citizen to make a paid trip into space. He was the co-founder and Chairman of Sensors Unlimited Inc. , a company developing Optoelectronic devices such as sensitive near- Infrared (NIR) and shortwave-infrared (SWIR) Camera s. One of Sensors Unlimited's major customers is NASA . Currently Dr. Olsen is President of GHO Ventures, LLC, in Princeton, NJ where he manages his “angel” investments, South African winery, Montana ranch, and performs numerous speaking engagements to encourage children –especially minorities and females- to consider careers in science and engineering. EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION Gregory Olsen, born in Brooklyn , New York , was the son of an IBEW Local 3 electrician. He graduated from Ridgefield Park High School , Ridgefield Park, New Jersey in 1962 . After being written off as a failure by teachers due to poor grades in high school, Gregory Olsen planned to join the United States Army until he was counselled to try college for several months. Through an IBEW Local 3 scholarship, Olsen attempted college, kept his grades high, and graduated '' Magna Cum Laude '' with multiple degrees from Fairleigh Dickinson University . He later graduated with a PhD from the University Of Virginia . FLIGHT DETAILS Flown to the International Space Station (ISS) with Soyuz TMA-7 (launched October 1 , 2005 , docked October 3 , landed October 10 ), Dr. Olsen is the third "fee-paying" Space Tourist (all prior space tourists flew at government expense) to visit the ISS, following Dennis Tito ( 2001 ) and Mark Shuttleworth ( 2002 ). Gregory Olsen has made some comments indicating that he is unhappy with the "space tourist" designation, since he conducted several experiments in Remote Sensing and Astronomy while aboard the space station. In an informal presentation at a New Jersey high school, Dr. Olsen estimated the price of his space excursion at 20 million USD . SEE ALSO REFERENCES # Dr. Olsen's presentation at Hopewell Valley Regional High School, Pennington, New Jersey, USA on 26 April 2006. EXTERNAL LINKS
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