Posts Tagged ‘Pathfinder Foundation association’
Famous Jet Propulsion Lab. scientist Modibo Diarra: Transitional PM of Rep.of Mali?
Posted on: May 1, 2012
Famous Jet Propulsion Lab. scientist President of Rep. of Mali: Who is Modibo Diarra?
I wrote recently a post on the Rep.of Mali in western Africa that witnessed a short military coup and the proclamation of the insurgents in the north of the independent State of Azawat…
Currently, the chairman of the Parliament, Cheick Modibo Diarra, was appointed temporary prime minister of the republic with mission to resume the election task that is to be held in late May.
Cheick Modibo Diarra is an astrophysicist who was made renowned on July 1997 by placing his designed robot Pathfinder on planet Mars. Pathfinder moves and collect data and take pictures of Mars, and analyzes the data…
Diarra worked previously on the interstellar Magellan probe at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena (Los Angeles).
Born in the town of Nioro in north-west Mali in 1952, Diarra lived and studied in the city of Segou (central Mali). This mathematician and physicist resumed his graduate studies in France (Pierre and Marie Curie Univ.) in 1972 and received a PhD in aerospace engineering in Washington. He got his USA citizenship and was planning to teach in Mali.
In 1989, two scientists from NASA proposed to Diarra to integrate a team at Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL).
In 1999, Diarra returned to his home country and created the Pathfinder Foundation association in the Capital Bamako, and meant to incite girls to scientific studies. Diarra installed a solar research laboratory and left in 2006 to Johannesburg to head the Africa Microsoft department.
Father of three children and wed to the daughter of former President Moussa Traore (1968-1991), Diarra launched into politics on March 2011, and founded a political party “Rassemblement pour le developpement du Mali (RPDM)” (Gathering for the development of Mali).
Diarra is vying to be a Presidential candidate in the May election 2012 on the ground that “doing politics” means resolving the problems of the city.
Probing the space is turning a far easier undertaking than probing stability and progress in underdeveloped States and creating the necessary opportunities for citizens to grow and achieve the best they could.
And Diarra has a long journey to ” resolving the problems of his city” and surrounding radical movements.
Note: Post inspired by a piece from Celia d’Almeida published in the Journaldumali.com (Bamako)
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