Muslim Shaltout, vice president of the Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences, died on Friday at the age of 69. He had invented a digger to be used in an expedition to Mars, but it was cancelled due to a lack of funds.
Ahmed Zewail had nominated Shaltout to lead an Egyptian research team for the NASA GRACE mission to monitor groundwater storages in the desert.
His name is included in the encyclopedia of prominent personalities in the history of Egypt, in recognition of his success in preparing an atlas of solar radiation. He was also chosen as one of the top scientists of the 20th century by the Encyclopedia Britannica.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
