Astronaut Pedro Duque to speak at the UAB Research Park

19/06/2015

As part of International Asteroid Day, the Institute of Space Sciences (CSIC-IEEC) and the UAB Research Park will be offering a conference by Pedro Duque, Spanish astronaut and aeronautical engineer.

Duque, the first Spaniard to have gone into space, began his space career between 1990 and 1992, when he was chosen from over 6,600 candidates to form part of the first astronaut team of the European Space Agency (ESA).

Trained and prepared at NASA facilities, his opportunity came on 29 October 1998 when he first flew into space aboard the space shuttle “Discovery”. Five years later he returned to space aboard the Russian space shuttle Soyuz and travelled to the International Space Station.

From 2004 to 2006, he lectured on aeronautical engineering at the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) and was director of operations at the university's Spanish User Support and Operations Centre (E-USOC). In 2006, he was named general director of Deimos Imaging.SL, a company located at the Boecillo Technological Park in Valladolid which in 2009 set in orbit the first Earth observation satellite built in Spain. In 2010, he was elected executive president of the company.

From 2011, Duque has combined the management of the Office of Flight Operations of the European Space Agency with his work as lecturer in aeronautical engineering.

The conference on “Why Worry about Asteroids: reasons for acting now” will take place on Tuesday 30 June at 12:30 pm at the Eureka Building of the UAB Research Park. Before beginning, the UAB Research Park will offer a short presentation of the fourth edition of the Generating Ideas Programme, which this year focuses on New Applications in Aerospace Technology.

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All International Asteroid Day activities can be consulted at the Institute of Space Sciences website.