SPACE… It’s famously been called the final frontier and one of the men at the forefront of its research is a scientific genius who has built instruments that have travelled to the farthest reaches of our solar system.
World-renowned space scientist Dr Stamatios M. Krimigis was in Cyprus on a four-day visit earlier this week, where he talked about the Voyager missions and space exploration in general.
Head of the Space Department at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and Head Emiritus since 1991, he was on the island at the invitation of CyTA and the University of Cyprus.
The Voyager mission to investigate Jupiter and Saturn was launched in 1977 and is still ongoing, having been retargeted to encounter Uranus and Neptune. It has been described as, “the most successful mission of the century,” according to Krimigis.
As well as giving a presentation on the Voyager missions and their significance, he also spoke with students of the Grammar School in Nicosia about life in the solar system and the possibility of future careers in the space industry.
Born on the Greek island of Chios in 1938, Krimigis told the Sunday Mail that he “grew up in the 1950s before the space age. As a young boy I would often look up into the sky at the stars and wonder what was out there.”
He moved to Minneapolis-Minnesota in the United States with his family just after his 18th birthday.
“Space exploration is now a universal activity and every member of the EU can play a future role,” he said. “There is an ongoing discussion between the EU and the European Space Agency about establishing the NASA equivalent for Europe.”
Even a tiny island like Cyprus could play a role, Krimigis said: “It could maybe have an aircraft tracking station, or high-tech Cypriot companies could build spacecraft sub-systems. Essentially, Cyprus would participate in a programme that looks into the future.”
Asked about the greatest achievements in space exploration have been so far, Krimigis replied: “The Hubble Space Telescope and the Cassini spacecraft now orbiting Saturn, which landed a capsule on the planet’s moon of Titan last year. And of course, our own moon landing, which is a milestone is humanity’s development.”
Regarding his own personal achievements, he said: “I have built instruments that have visited seven of the nine planets with a further two on the way to Mercury and Pluto. I am very fortunate to have done this. Even more personal is the fact that these last two spacecraft have been built at my applied physics laboratory.”
The most significant upcoming mission according to Krimigis, is the Mars Lander and Sample Return. “No launch date has yet been set but it will happen in the next 10 years. Its principle mission is all about looking for life on another planet.
“I certainly believe there is life elsewhere in the universe even though I have no direct evidence. Nobody does. However, it is a statistical certainty.”
On the age-old question of aliens visiting Earth, Krimigis said that, “there is no scientific evidence that extra-terrestrials have visited us. Many sightings are optical illusions. Any time objective evidence such as photographs or radio waves has been produced, it has turned out to be a misunderstanding on the part of the observer.”
In his position at the Johns Hopkins University, he has directed the activities of around 600 scientists, engineers and other technical staff. The Space Department’s principal areas of work include the design, construction, testing, and launching into space of entire satellites and of scientific instruments that perform measurements on a large variety of earth-orbiting interplanetary missions. The Department conducts forefront research in all areas of space science, ranging from the Earth’s oceans and atmosphere to the sun, the planets, comets, asteroids and other objects.
He has published more than 380 papers in journals and books and has been awarded the NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement in 1981 and 1986.
At the World Space Congress in 2002 he was presented with the COSPAR Space Science Award, the highest honour that the worldwide space community can bestow.
The International Astronomical Union in 1999 named asteroid “8323 Krimigis” in his honour.
In 1997, the President of Greece awarded him the Gold Cross ‘Commandeur de l’Ordre du Phoénix,’ while the American Hellenic Institute honoured him with its ‘Hellenic Heritage Achievement Award,’ in Washington in 1998.
He is also listed in the Who’s Who of America, Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who in Frontiers of Space and Technology, Personalities of America, American Men and Women of Science, Men of Achievement and the Dictionary of International Biography.
In the 1970s, he was the President of the Free Cyprus Coalition in Washington, “where we worked hard to impose an embargo on Turkey.”
He was then President of an organisation called the Friends of Cyprus, which maintained awareness of the Cyprus problem in Washington.
“I was also involved in the publication of a newsletter called The Cyprus Observer which was distributed to Senators and Congressmen.”
Krimigis lives in the suburbs of Washington DC with his wife. The couple have three sons.
Picture caption: Krimigis in the Oval Office being congratulated by President George Bush in 1991 on the success of the Voyager program.
