Farouk El-Baz

Farouk El-Baz (born on January 2, 1938 in Zagazig) is an Egyptian-American scientist who worked for NASA to help plan geological exploration of the Moon, such as choosing landing sites for the Apollo missions and training astronauts to choose suitable samples of lunar soil. And bring it to the ground for  analysis and study.

Farouk El-Baz is married and has four daughters and six grandchildren. He is the brother of Osama El-Baz, the supreme advisor to former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Currently, El-Baz is Professor of Scientific Research and Director of the Center for Remote Sensing at Boston University, in Boston, Massachusetts. He is also an assistant professor of geology at Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt.

He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Geological Society of America Foundation in Boulder, Colorado, a member of the Leaders Board of CRDF Global, and a member of the US National Academy of Engineering in Washington.

Scientific positions

Dr. Farouk El-Baz is Director of the Center for Remote Sensing Applications at Boston University in Boston, USA.

Previously, he was Vice President of Science and Technology at ITIC Imaging Equipment Corporation in Lexington, Massachusetts.

From 1973 until he joined ITC in 1982, Dr. El-Baz founded and directed the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies at the National Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, the capital of the United States of America. In addition, he worked as a scientific advisor to President Sadat between 1978 - 1981.

From 1967 to 1972, Dr. Farouk El-Baz worked at Bell Labs in Washington as a supervisor in planning for lunar studies and exploration of the lunar surface.

During these years, he participated in the evaluation of the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) program for orbital flights to the moon. In addition to his membership in scientific groups supporting the preparation of the missions of the Apollo flights on the moon. He was also the head of the astronaut training team in science in general and lunar imaging in particular.

He served as Head of Experiment Research for Earth Observations from Space and Imaging in the Apollo-Soyuz Joint Space Flight Project in 1975.

His academic career

Dr. El-Baz taught geology at universities:

Assiut, Egypt from 1958 - 1960

University of Missouri in America from 1963 to 1964 and

Heidelberg University in Germany from 1964-1965

In 1966, he worked in oil exploration in the Gulf of Suez in the exploration department of Pan American, before joining Bell Labs in 1967.

During the years between 1967 and 1973, he worked on selecting 16 distinct areas on the moon for astronauts to land on, in order to obtain the greatest scientific gain on the geological formation of the moon and to know the history of the formation of the moon and the relationship of the formation of the moon to the formation of the earth. During that time he worked directly with many astronauts such as DicK Gordon, Mattingly, Jim Lovell, Alfred Hayes, Stu Rooza, Mitchell, as well as Alan Shepard, and prepared them scientifically for their mission on the moon and they called him "The King".

In 1973, he worked as the head of cosmic observation and imaging in the Apollo-Soyuz project, which carried out the first US-Soviet mission in July 1975.

In 1986 he joined Boston University, at the Center for Remote Sensing using space technology in the fields of geology and geography, and he developed a system for using remote sensing in the discovery of some Egyptian antiquities.

In 1989, El-Baz received an honorary Doctor of Science from the College of New England.

In 2002, he received a professorship from the Missouri University of Science and Technology.

In 2003, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in philosophy from Mansoura University.

In 2004, he received a doctorate in law from the American University in Cairo.

Also in 2004, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in engineering from the Missouri University of Science and Technology.

Post-doctoral period

El-Baz taught geology at Assiut University, in Egypt between 1958 and 1960, and at Heidelberg University in Germany between 1964 and 1965. In 1966 he joined the American Oil Company - United Arab Republic, where he participated in the discovery of the first offshore oil field in the Gulf of Suez, the Marjan field.

Activities at NASA

The green markers show the landing sites of the manned Apollo missions on the Moon. They are among 24 lunar sites suggested by El-Baz for NASA.

Farouk El-Baz sponsored the work of astronauts from the point of view of lunar geology within the framework of the Apollo program during the years 1967 to 1972. During those six years, he was the Secretary of the Committee for Selecting Landing Sites on the Moon and Head of the Pioneers Training Group. His training for astronauts is devoted to selecting suitable samples of moonstones and soil, in order to bring them to Earth for analysis and study. He won the admiration of the astronauts working with him, as he was characterized by an easy-to-understand and interesting explanation at the same time. From what testifies to what astronaut Alfred Worden of the Apollo 15 mission said while he was in orbit around the moon, where he was driving the spacecraft, he said: "I remember the "king" explanation of the moon - which is Farouk's name circulating in NASA - I feel as if I have been here before!"

Farouk El-Baz was also accompanying members of the NASA group when they met with journalists to report on the results of the Apollo flights. His ability to simplify accurate scientific expressions in the media was appreciated, and some of his words were often published.

Post-Apollo period

After the Apollo program ended in 1972, El-Baz joined the Smithsonian Institution in Washington to found and oversee the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies at the National Air and Space Museum. At the same time, El-Baz was elected a member of the International Space Union's Lunar Naming Mission Group. As a result, he was able to go on naming features of the moon as they would appear in photography.

In 1973, he was chosen by NASA as the principal investigator for Earth observations and photographic experiments on the Apollo-Soyuz project, the first joint US-Soviet project to conduct a spaceflight in July of 1975. The focus was on photography of arid environment, particularly the Sahara in North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. The Arabian Peninsula, in addition to other landmarks of the land and oceans.

Al-Baz emphasized the study of the origin and development of desert lands, and collected field data during his visits to every major desert in the world. One of the important visits occurred after the normalization of US-Chinese relations in 1979, when he coordinated the first visit of US scholars to the northwestern desert of China. That trip took six weeks, and was chronicled by National Geographic and Explorers Journal. His research into the origin and evolution of the desert led to his election as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

From 1982 until joining Boston University in 1986, he was vice president of ITIC Optical Systems in Lexington, Massachusetts. During these years, El-Baz oversaw the use and photography of the Space Shuttle "Large Format Camera".

El-Baz was elected a fellow of the Geological Society of America, the World Academy of Sciences, and the National Academy of Engineering. In 1999, the Geological Society of America Foundation established the Farouk El-Baz Award for Desert Research, to annually celebrate the excellence of scientist Farouk El-Baz in the field. In 2007 the Foundation also established the Farouk El-Baz Prize for Scientific Research Students; To encourage desert research.

In April 2011, El-Baz joined the Free Egyptians Party, founded by Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris.

desert research theories

During the past twenty years of his research at Boston University, El-Baz has used satellite imagery to further understand the origin and evolution of the desert. Al-Baz is credited with providing evidence that the desert is not man-made, but the result of climatic changes. His research revealed many buried rivers under the desert sands and springs in the deserts, based on the interpretation of radar images.

Previous water courses led to depressions in the terrain, which El-Baz certainly theorized to contain groundwater. His analysis of the data has led to the location of groundwater in the desert terrain of Egypt, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates and possibly in Darfur, Sudan (if it has not dried up).

Atlas of Kuwait

El-Baz piqued the interest of Biblical scholars around the world by declaring the existence of an ancient estuary from the Arabian Peninsula to the Persian Gulf. The idea of ​​an ancient river that flowed through the Arabian Desert, possibly linking the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, is evidenced by satellite imaging databases, especially from radar images taken during the 1994 space shuttle Endeavor mission. El-Baz studied these images, and noted the remains of a river across the northern Arabian Peninsula Arabia from west to east where it was visible under the sand, thanks to the ground-penetrating ability made possible by radar technology.

Al-Baz called it the Kuwait River, and it is known in popular circles as Wadi Al-Batin, as an extension of Wadi Al-Rama. Wadi al-Rama would have been responsible for the deposition of al-Dibdaba (similar to alluvial or alluvial fans, morphologically and sedimentary). This river was probably active 2500-3000 BC.

Giza pyramid theory

In a 2002 National Geographic documentary, El-Baz suggested a new source for the shape of the pyramids at Giza. El-Baz believes that the ancient Egyptians chose to bury their dead in pyramidal structures because they knew from early years that pyramid monuments, which are abundant in Egypt's Western Desert, survive erosion.

His writings

Dr. wrote. Al-Baz has 12 books, including Apollo over the Moon, Desert and Dry Lands, Gulf War and Environment, Atlas of Satellite Images for Kuwait, Construction Corridor in the Western Desert of Egypt. Participate in the Advisory Board for several international scientific journals. He wrote many articles, and many interviews took place about his life story, which reached the age of forty, including "The Egyptian Stars in the Sky", "From the Pyramids to the Moon", "The Farmer's Boy Over the Moon", and others.

Membership in scientific societies

Dr. was elected. El-Baz as a member, envoy or president of nearly 40 institutes, councils and committees, including his election as envoy to the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) in 1985 CE, and he became one of its advisory board in 1997 CE, a member of the Council for Space Science and Technology, and head of the Foundation for the Preservation of Egyptian Antiquities, And a member of the International Center for Academic Physics at UNESCO, envoy of the African Academy of Sciences, fellow of the Islamic Academy of Sciences in Pakistan, a founding member of the Arab Academy of Sciences in Lebanon, and president of the Arab Society for Desert Research.

honor him

got Dr. El-Baz has received nearly 31 awards, including: the Apollo Achievement Award, the Distinguished Medal of Science, the Team Work Training Award from NASA, the Lunar Science Team Award, the US-Soviet Apollo Project Team Award, the Merritt Award of First Class from President Anwar Sadat, the American-Soviet Apollo Project Team Award. The Golden Gate from the International Institute in Boston, the distinguished son from Dakahlia Governorate. His primary school was named after him. He is on the Board of Trustees of the Geological Society of America, the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies, and the Council on Egyptian-American Relations. The Geological Society of America established an annual award in his name called the "Farouk El-Baz Award for Desert Research".

The papers of Dr. Al-Baz published scientific papers to nearly 540 scientific papers, whether he did alone or with the participation of others, and he supervised many doctoral theses.

Gal Dr. Farouk Al-Alam, east and west, lectured in many research centers and universities, loved scouting trips, and collected rock samples since childhood. He is the brother of Osama El-Baz.

In 2019, asteroid 7371 was named El-Baz in recognition of his outstanding scientific contributions.

from some of his names

Farouk El-Baz has received many scientific awards from America and many universities and scientific bodies around the world, including:

The Egyptian First Class Merit Award from President Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat,

NASA Science and Technology Excellence Award.