Greek NASA’s Scientist Honored

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)    On August 8, the Prefecture of Grevena will honour Thanasis Economou, a scientist whose name is linked with most of NASA’s 50 years if history. Born in Grevena Greece, Economou left the country in the early years after the WWII. In 1964, he finished his studies in nuclear physics at Charles University in Prague and in the same year, he joined the Laboratory for Astrophysics and Space Research at the University of Chicago, which he never left. Economou started working for NASA again in 1964, its youngest scientist at the time. As early as in 1966, he contributed to NASA’s missions to the Moon (1966-1968 ) and in subsequent endeavours such as NASA’s Apollo program (1961-1975). Throughout his career, he has developed tools and techniques that enabled several of NASA’s famous missions to be carried out successfully, such as the latest Mars Pathfinder mission (1993-1997). Today, Economou is pleased with his achievements and often says that when people ask him about the most impressive image of space, the answer he gives back is the Earth, adding that this valuable commodity that is called ‘environment’ is in need of our protection and respect.