UAE’s first astronaut Hazzaa Al Mansouri and Sharjah-based Algerian astrophysicist Dr Nidhal Guessom were named among top 100 leaders in space exploration for 2021.
Al Mansouri’s and Dr Guessoum’s contributions were recognised in a new list published by Richtopia, a digital platform ranking the achievements of leading global figures.
Mansouri, the first Emirati to travel to space, shared the news on his Twitter page early Sunday, December 20.
A @DXBMediaOffice interview with one of the first Emirati astronauts Hazzaa Al Mansouri @Astro_Hazzaa following his first media appearance in #Dubai. pic.twitter.com/8e6VyaawcU
— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) February 25, 2019
Previous to his appointment at the American University in Sharjah, Nidhal Guessoum taught in Kuwait and Algeria and spent two years as a post-doctoral researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
Tomorrow in my class “Physics the Greatest Ideas” #FisicaGrandesIdeas I will have the pleasure to present @NidhalGuessoum, a great astrophysicist and one of the most active science promoters in the world, with a fantastic view of the Muslim traditions and Modern Science. pic.twitter.com/APL8i3O1pz
— Diego A. Torres G. (@DiegoTorres_Fis) November 8, 2020
His area of expertise is cosmic gamma-ray sources (the galactic center, accretion disks, bursts, etc.), but he has also written many articles and several books on issues related to science, education and Islam, such as ‘Islamic Astronomy’ - the crescent observation problem, the Islamic calendar, etc, according to his profile page on the American University of Sharjah page.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk has the top spot on the Richtopia list followed by acclaimed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. Jeff Bezos, founder of Blue Origin and Richard Branson have also made it to the list.
@torybruno congratulations, you are #48 on the list of 100 most influential leaders in space exploration online https://t.co/85QbkcII6t via @Richtopia
— Derin Cag (@DerinCag) December 19, 2020
Other prominent names in the space list include Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, former American astronaut Buzz Aldrin and astronaut Sunita Williams.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
