1. Farouk El-Baz was born on January 2,1938 and is an Egyptian American space scientist and geologist, who worked with NASA in the scientific exploration of the Moon and the planning of the Apollo program.
26 Facts About Farouk El-Baz
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Farouk El-Baz was a leading geologist on the program, responsible for studying the geology of the Moon, the selection of landing sites for the Apollo missions, and the training of astronauts in lunar observations and photography.
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Farouk El-Baz played a key role in the Apollo 11 Moon landing mission, and later Apollo missions.
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Farouk El-Baz came up with the idea of touchable Moon rocks at a museum, inspired by his childhood pilgrimage to Mecca where he touched the Black Stone.
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Farouk El-Baz is married, has four daughters, and has seven grandchildren.
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Farouk El-Baz was a Senior Advisor to Egypt's former president Hosni Mubarak.
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Farouk El-Baz was an adjunct professor of Geology at the Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
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Farouk El-Baz has since now retired but his work remains timeless and well regarded at the university.
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Farouk El-Baz is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Geological Society of America Foundation, Boulder, Colorado, and a member of the Board of Directors of CRDF Global.
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Farouk El-Baz was elected a member of the US National Academy of Engineering in Washington, DC for selecting the landing sites for the Apollo missions, and for pioneering methods of discovering subsurface freshwater from space observations.
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Farouk El-Baz was born on January 2,1938, in Zagazig, Sharqia Governorate to Muslim Egyptian parents.
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Farouk El-Baz's family is originally from the Nile Delta village of Touqh el Aklaam, El Senbellawein Centre, Dakahlia Governorate.
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In 1978, Farouk El-Baz was appointed Science Adviser to President Anwar Sadat of Egypt.
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Farouk El-Baz was charged with the selection of regions for land reclamation in the desert without detrimental effects on the environment.
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Farouk El-Baz taught Geology at Assiut University, Egypt and the Heidelberg University, Germany.
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The key scientist who helped NASA plan and identify the Moon landing location for Apollo 11 historic Moon landing in 1969, Farouk El-Baz is currently a leading expert in the study of deserts and how to find and sustain water in such environments in the Arab world.
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From 1967 to 1972, Farouk El-Baz participated in the Apollo Program as Supervisor of Lunar Science Planning at Bellcomm Inc.
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Farouk El-Baz performed the same role for the famous Apollo 15 Lunar Roving Vehicle rover mission, and trained Apollo astronauts in the important skills of visual observation and space photography, in addition to instructing crew members on which rocks to collect and how to collect lunar soil.
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Farouk El-Baz's outstanding teaching abilities were confirmed by the Apollo astronauts.
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Farouk El-Baz was elected Fellow of the Geological Society of America, The World Academy of Sciences, and of the National Academy of Engineering.
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Farouk El-Baz is credited with providing evidence that the desert is not man-made, but the result of major climatic variations.
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Farouk El-Baz's research uncovered numerous sand-buried rivers and streams in the Sahara based on the interpretation of radar images.
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Farouk El-Baz piqued the interest of Biblical scholars around the world with his announcement of paleo-drainage from Arabian Peninsula into the Persian Gulf.
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Farouk El-Baz studied the images, and noticed that traces of a defunct river that emerged from Kuwait and crossed northern Arabia from west to east were visible beneath the sands, thanks to the ground-penetrating capabilities of the radar technologies.
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Farouk El-Baz called it the Kuwait River, which is more popularly known as Wadi Al-Batin, an extension of Wadi Al-Rummah.
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Farouk El-Baz believes that the ancient Egyptians chose to bury their dead in pyramid shaped structures because they knew from an earlier nomadic life that monumental pyramidal landforms, which abound in the Western Desert of Egypt, evade erosion.