太空人及登月艙駕駛員巴茲·奧爾德林（Buzz Aldrin）在執行阿波羅11號登月任務期間（NASA）
法魯克·埃爾-巴茲（Farouk El-Baz）曾訓練過計劃參加1969年阿波羅（Apollo）登月的太空人們。今天，這位前美國國家航空航天局（NASA）的地質學家正在培訓波士頓大學（Boston University）的學生如何利用衛星圖像及其他傳感器來研究地球。
出生在埃及的埃爾-巴茲在談到他在阿波羅計劃中，特別是在阿波羅11號載人登月任務中發揮的作用時說：「我們知道全世界都在注視著我們的工作。」[請見本刊英文文章]
在電視劇集《星際旅行：下一代》的一個場景中，賴克（Riker）和沃爾夫（Worf）站在以地質學家法魯克·埃爾-巴茲命名的穿梭機旁（Alamy）埃爾-巴茲為探索宇宙所做的貢獻通過其他方式得到了表彰。當他把自己的書送給《星際旅行：下一代》（Star Trek: Next Generation）的執行製片人理察·伯曼（Rick Berman）後，該電視劇集在1988-1989季的節目中以他的名字為第一個「15型穿梭機」命名，以表彰他在NASA阿波羅航天計劃中的作用。
在埃爾-巴茲訓練準備登月的太空人期間，他們給了他「國王」的暱稱，指的是在二戰期間在埃及執政的法魯克國王（King Farouk）。
埃爾-巴茲1938年出生在埃及的尼羅河三角洲地區，並一直同他的出生國保持聯繫。他在密蘇裡大學哥倫比亞分校（University of Missouri-Columbia）拿到地質學博士學位兩年之後返回埃及，在蘇伊士灣（Gulf of Suez）沿岸首次發現石油的過程中發揮了作用。
埃爾-巴茲最近一次從埃及訪問歸來是在今年4月，訪問為期兩周。他說：「我在最近這次旅途中在開羅（Cairo）美國大學（American University）的天文學俱樂部做了一次講座。」埃爾-巴茲已於1970年4月成為美國公民。
從1978年到1981年，埃爾-巴茲曾擔任時任埃及總統安瓦爾·薩達特（Anwar Sadat）的科學顧問。
法魯克·埃爾-巴茲（圖片由本人提供）埃爾-巴茲對美國探索月球的貢獻源自他作為一名地質學家的學識，而他對沙漠和乾旱地帶的開創性研究，特別是利用太空圖像發現地下水的研究，同樣廣為人知。為了表彰他的上述成就，美國地質學會基金會（Geological Society of America Foundation）於1999年以他的名字設立了一個獎項，每年為有關乾旱土地的優秀研究成果頒獎。
今天，埃爾-巴茲依然活躍在幾個學術領域，並從事跨學科研究。除了領導波士頓大學遙感中心（Center for Remote Sensing）外，這位已年過八旬的學者還在波士頓大學考古學系和電子及計算機工程系擔任研究教授，並且是該大學地球與環境系的特邀教授。
From NASA to Star Trek: One scientist’s space odysseyFarouk El-Baz once trained the astronauts who were planning for the 1969 Apollo moon landing. Today, the former NASA geologist is training students at Boston University in how to use satellite images and other sensors to study the Earth.
Of his role within the Apollo program, particularly Apollo 11’s manned moon landing, the Egyptian-born El-Baz said, 「we knew that the world’s eyes were on our work.」
In a scene from the television show 「Star Trek: The Next Generation,」 officers Riker and Worf stand next to the El-Baz shuttlepod, named after geoscientist Farouk El-Baz. (Alamy)El-Baz’s contributions to space exploration have been recognized in other ways. After he gave a copy of one of his books about the moon to Rick Berman, the executive producer of Star Trek: Next Generation, the television show paid homage to his role in NASA’s Apollo space program by naming the first 「Type 15」 shuttlepod after him in its 1988–1989 season.
When El-Baz was training astronauts for the moon landing, they gave him a nickname, 「the King,」 in honor of Egypt’s King Farouk, who ruled the country during World War II.
El-Baz, who was born in 1938 in Egypt’s Nile Delta region, has kept ties with his birth country. Two years after completing a doctorate in geology at the University of Missouri-Columbia, he returned to Egypt and played a part in the groundbreaking discovery of offshore oil in the Gulf of Suez.
As recently as April, El-Baz returned from a two-week visit to Egypt. 「I gave a lecture during this past trip to the astronomy club of the American University in Cairo,」 said El-Baz, who became a U.S. citizen in April 1970.
From 1978 to 1981, El-Baz served as science adviser to Egypt’s then-President Anwar Sadat.
Farouk El-Baz (Courtesy photo)El-Baz’s value to U.S. lunar exploration derived from his training as a geologist, and he is equally well known for his pioneering study of deserts and arid landscapes, in particular the detection of groundwater using space imagery. In recognition of that work, the Geological Society of America Foundation in 1999 created an award in his name that every year rewards excellence in arid land studies.
Today, El-Baz remains active and engaged across several academic disciplines. In addition to leading Boston University’s Center for Remote Sensing, the octogenarian also is a research professor at B.U.’s departments of archaeology and electrical and computer engineering, and a member of associated faculty at that university’s department of earth and environment.