Q.3 What are your memories of Dr. Minoru Oda as one of the pioneers of X-ray astronomy, and also as your friend?
I met him at MIT in 1962. In 1967, he joined our early rocket observation project. We also did analysis on the data sent from the X-ray satellite Uhuru, launched in 1970, which found the existence of X-ray sources from black holes and binaries for the first time.
We established a good friendship through our lives. We had a lot of fun. He visited my house in Cape Cod, Massachussets, with his children, and I visited his house, too. X-ray astronomy is widely recognized today, and I wish I could share the honor with him, since he devoted himself to the field.
Dr. Oda was one of the original members of ISAS [the former Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, now a part of JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency]. It is a research institution that is respected by scientists all over the world. Dr. Oda was its first Director General, and later, Prof. Yasuo Tanaka [currently a visiting professor at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany] was appointed Deputy Director General. ISAS has played an important role in conducting world-class research on X-ray astronomy, and through its significant achievements, it has contributed to all aspects of astronomy.
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Dr. Giacconi is recognized not only for his career as a scientist, but also for his outstanding ability in management of large-scale organizations and new projects. He has been appointed Director of the Space Telescope Science Institute, which operates the Hubble Space Telescope (top photo), and Director General of ESO, the European Southern Observatory, which is an intergovernmental research organization that operates four of the 8-metre Very Large Telescopes (middle photo). At present, he is President of AUI, the Associated Universities Inc., and is supporting the ALMA (bottom photo), with which the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan has been deeply involved since the concept stage. |
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