Claude Nicollier celebrated at his Honorary Lecture
Martine Harmel, Space Center's secretary, paying a warm tribute to Claude Nicollier © Alain Herzog
The Astrophysicist and astronaut Prof. Claude Nicollier has given his "Leçon d'honneur" at the SwissTech Convention Center. More than 1400 people attended his lesson on gravity, which can be viewed here.
More than 1'500 people accepted the public invitation to the "Leçon d'honneur" of Claude Nicollier, the only Swiss astronaut, who has been professor at EPFL since 1994. His Lesson on Gravity, which took place on Tuesday March 10, delighted the audience. Claude Nicollier mentioned Galileo, Newton and Einstein, but also illustrated his point with pictures and videos of his own experiences in the sky and in space, to explain different concepts linked to gravity. It can be viewed or re-viewed here.
Patrick Aebischer, President of EPFL, paid tribute to Claude Nicollier for his extraordinary career. He particularly applauded the fact that having drawn a close to his activities as an astronaut, Claude Nicollier continued to teach at EPFL with passion, transmitting his enthusiasm and knowledge to the students.
Claude Nicollier received his «Diplôme d'honneur» from Demetri Psaltis, the Dean of the School of Engineering (STI). To end the proceedings, his colleagues gave him a sculpture by artist Etienne Volery, which contains a fragment of a meteorite of Martian origin.
Short Bio:
Claude Nicollier was born in Vevey in 1944. He has been a European Space Agency astronaut for nearly 30 years. He first graduated in physics (Bachelor) and astrophysics (Master), and then earned the titles of Swiss Air Force pilot, airline pilot and test pilot.
He was a member of the first group of ESA astronauts selected in 1978. He was then assigned to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, for Space Shuttle training and flight assignment. In 1992 he became the first Swiss to go into space. He took part in 4 space flights, and spent more than 1000 hours in space, including a spacewalk of more than 8 hours' duration to install new equipment on the Hubble Space Telescope. He has been a professor at EPFL since 1994, teaching at Master's level, and provides assistance to students on various space related projects. He is also involved in the "Solar Impulse" solar powered aircraft program as Head of Test Flights.