Rodolfo Neri Vela

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rodolfo Neri Vela
Rodolfo Neri Vela
NASA Payload Specialist
Nationality Mexican
Born 19 February 1952
Chilpancingo, Guerrero
Other occupation Scientist
Space time 6d 21h 04m
Selection 1985 NASA Group
Missions STS-61-B
Mission
insignia

Rodolfo Neri Vela (born 19 February 1952) is a NASA payload specialist. He was the first and so far only Mexican to fly in space.[1]

Contents

[edit] Personal

Vela was born in Chilpancingo, Guerrero, Mexico. He is a professor for the Telecommunications Department in the Electrical Engineering Division of the Engineering Faculty, at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

[edit] Education

Vela received a bachelor's degree in mechanical and electronic engineering, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) 1975, and received a master's degree in science, specialized in telecommunications systems, in 1976 from the University of Essex, England. Vela then received a doctorate degree in electromagnetic radiation from the University of Birmingham in 1979, and performed one year of postdoctoral research in waveguides at the University of Birmingham.

[edit] Career

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, U.S.; The Institution of Electrical Engineers, UK; Asociación Mexicana de Ingenieros en Comunicaciones Eléctricas y Electrónicas, Mexico; and Colegio de Ingenieros Mecánicos y Electricistas, Mexico.

Vela has worked at the Institute of Electrical Research, Mexico, in the Radiocommunications Group, doing research and system planning on antenna theory and design, satellite communications systems, and Earth station technology.

He is currently also a full time researcher at the Electric Engineering department of the Faculty of Engineering in the UNAM

[edit] Spaceflight

Vela was a Payload Specialist aboard the STS-61-B Atlantis mission, from (November 26 to December 3, 1985).[1] STS-61B launched at night from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, and returned to land at Edwards Air Force Base, California. During the mission the crew deployed the MORELOS-B, AUSSATT II, and SATCOM K-2 communications satellites, conducted two six-hour spacewalks to demonstrate space station construction techniques with the EASE/ACCESS experiments, operated the Continuous Flow Electrophoresis (CRFES) experiment for McDonell Douglas and a Getaway Special (GAS) container for Telesat, Canada, conducted several Mexican Payload Specialists Experiments for the Mexican government, and tested the Orbiter Experiments Digital Autopilot (OEX DAP). At mission conclusion, Vela had traveled 2.4 million miles (3.8 million km) in 108 Earth orbits, and logged over 165 hours in space.[1]

[edit] Bibliography

  • Neri Vela, Rodolfo; Ramón Soberón Kuri (1984). El ingeniero en electricidad y electrónica, qué hace? (in Spanish). México, D.F.: Alhambra Mexicana. ISBN 9789684440357. OCLC 21308198. 
  • Neri Vela, Rodolfo; Carlos Elizondo (1986). El planeta azul : Misión 61-B (in Spanish). México, D.F.: EDAMEX. ISBN 9789684093287. OCLC 15155985. 
  • Neri Vela, Rodolfo; Jorge L Ruiz G (1987). El pequeño astronauta (in Spanish). México, D.F.: Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología. ISBN 9789688231975. OCLC 19739242. 
  • Neri Vela, Rodolfo (1989). La exploración y uso del espacio (in Spanish). Mexico, D.F.: Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología. ISBN 9789688231036. OCLC 24257788. 
  • Neri Vela, Rodolfo; Bernardo Martinez Avalos (1990). Construya e instale su propia antena parabolica (in Spanish). Mexico, D.F.: Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología. ISBN 9789688231685. OCLC 24494639. 
  • Neri Vela, Rodolfo (1991). Los eclipses y el movimiento del universo (in Spanish). México: Grupo Editorial Iberoamérica. ISBN 9789687270760. OCLC 25668587. 
  • Neri Vela, Rodolfo (1992). Vuelta al mundo en noventa minutos (in Spanish). México: Atlántida. ISBN 9686868003. OCLC 30537012. 
  • Neri Vela, Rodolfo (1999). Líneas de transmisión (in Spanish). México: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 9789701025468. OCLC 45878412. 
  • Neri Vela, Rodolfo (2003). Comunicaciones por satélite (in Spanish). México: Thomson. ISBN 9789706862822. OCLC 55022508. 

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c NASA (1985). Rodolfo Neri Vela (Ph.D.) Biography (English). NASA. Retrieved on October 4, 2007.

[edit] External links