Dirk Frimout went into space and Belgian history 30 years ago

Born in 1941, De Popringenaar started a scientific career at the Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB) and later ended up at the European Space Agency (ESA). There he became involved at a high level in the European space lab Spacelab and all kinds of experiments in space. Under the impulse of the Belgian scientific community, Frimout was able to become a scientific astronaut at the American NASA.

On March 24, 1992, Frimout became the first Belgian in space, when the Atlantis departed from Cape Canaveral in Florida for a flight until April 2, one day longer than planned, thanks to, among other things, the economical use of energy by the Belgian and his six colleagues on board. During his flight, tests were carried out on his initiative to direct experiments from the ground, which eventually led to the B.USOC in Uccle, or scientific flight control center for Belgian/European experiments in space.

Also during that mission – even on April 1 – there was also a hype for space travel in Belgium, in which the then Prince Filip was also involved, in particular via a legendary video conference from the scientific flight control center in Huntsville with the Atlantis, which served as the flagship. of the US shuttle fleet.

After his flight, good for 143 orbits around our planet, Frimout was welcomed in Poperinge as a rock star, himself a distant relative of the Irish singer Bob Geldof. He was also given the noble title of Viscount.

As an ex-astronaut, Frimout continues to promote space travel with fire and passion, just like STEM training.