Farouk El-Baz

Farouk El-Baz (فاروق الباز, Pronunciation: ) (born January 2, 1938) 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.

He 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.

He played a key role in the Apollo 11 Moon landing mission, and later Apollo missions.

He also 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 (which in Islam is believed to be sent down from the heavens).

He is married, has four daughters, and has seven grandchildren.

He was a Senior Advisor to Egypt's former president Hosni Mubarak.

El-Baz was a Research Professor and Director of the Center for Remote Sensing at Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts.

He was an Adjunct Professor of Geology at the Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.

He has since now retired but his work remains timeless and well regarded at the university

He is also 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.

Farouk El-Baz was born on January 2, 1938, in Zagazig, Sharqia Governorate to Muslim Egyptian parents.

His family is originally from the Nile Delta village of Touqh el Aklaam, El Senbellawein Centre, Dakahlia Governorate.

Farouk went to many schools.

In 1958, he attended Ain Shams University.

El-Baz taught Geology at Assiut University, Egypt (1958–1960) and the Heidelberg University, Germany (1964–1965).

In 1961, he received a Master of Science in geology from the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy (now Missouri University of Science and Technology).

From 1962-1963, he attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

After that, in 1964, he attended Missouri University of Science and Technology.

In 1964, at the age of 26, he received a Doctor of Philosophy in geology from the Missouri University of Science and Technology after conducting research from 1962 to 1963 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He joined the Pan American - U.A.R. Oil Company in 1966, where he participated in the discovery of El-Morgan, the first offshore oil field in the Gulf of Suez.

From 1967 to 1972, El-Baz participated in the Apollo Program as Supervisor of Lunar Science Planning at Bellcomm Inc., a division of AT&T that conducted systems analysis for NASA.

During these six years, he was Secretary of the Landing Site Selection Committee for the Apollo lunar landing missions, Principal Investigator of Visual Observations and Photography, and Chairman of the Astronaut Training Group.

The key scientist who helped NASA plan and identify the Moon landing location for Apollo 11 historic Moon landing in 1969, 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.

In addition to being the scientist who played a key role in helping NASA decide on the ideal Moon landing site for the Apollo 11 mission in 1969, El-Baz also served on the Apollo 15 rover mission in 1971.

Throughout his time in the Apollo program, El-Baz joined NASA officials in briefing members of the press on the results of the lunar missions.

His ability to simplify scientific jargon made his remarks on the program's scientific accomplishments often quoted by the media.

Soon after beginning with the Apollo Program, he was put to work poring over mountains of detailed photographs of the Moon's surface—a crucial step in selecting the most ideal and precise landing location based on lunar terrain, climate variations, and other factors.

He also 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.

So pivotal was he to Apollo that in Tom Hanks' HBO TV-series, From the Earth to the Moon, El-Baz's role as an Apollo scientist and astronaut trainer was featured in a segment entitled, "The Brain of Farouk El-Baz," and a shuttle craft named El-Baz soared through the popular TV-series Star Trek: The Next Generation.

His outstanding teaching abilities were confirmed by the Apollo astronauts.

While orbiting the Moon for the first time during Apollo 15, Command Module Pilot Alfred Worden said, "After the King's [Farouk's nickname] training, I feel like I've been here before."

After the Apollo Program ended in 1972, El-Baz joined the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC to establish and direct the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies at the National Air and Space Museum.

At the same time, he was elected as a member of the Lunar Nomenclature Task Group of the International Astronomical Union.

In this capacity, he continues to participate in naming features of the Moon as revealed by lunar photographic missions.

In 1973, NASA selected him as principal investigator of the Earth Observations and Photography Experiment on the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP), the first joint American-Soviet space mission in July 1975.

In 1978, El-Baz was appointed Science Adviser to President Anwar Sadat of Egypt.

He was charged with the selection of regions for land reclamation in the desert without detrimental effects on the environment.

For his distinguished service, President Sadat awarded him Egypt's Order of Merit - First Class.

He was also elected a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering in Washington, DC (2002) for selecting the landing sites for the Apollo missions, and for pioneering methods of discovering subsurface freshwater from space observations.

Finally, in 2002, he attended Missouri University of Science and Technology.