Menelaos Raptis, a young student from Thessaloniki, Greece has become the newest member of the NASA research team.
According to the Greek Reporter, in an interview with the Athens-Macedonian News Agency, Raptis said, “I am honoured and delighted to now be part of the NASA research team that will [analyse] the data from the James Webb Space Telescope,”
The Greek student studies at the Franklin & Marshal College of Astrophysics and is a member of Greece’s National Robotics Team and also was the Youngest Ambassador of Space in 2017.
Raptis, having joined the NASA team will be working on the James Webb Space Telescope project analysing data.
This telescope is the largest optical of its kind in space, uses infrared radiation and includes the study and observation of astronomical objects.
The young astrophysicist says the collaboration with a professor at Franklin & Marshall College prepared him for, “difficult and demanding challenges, mainly in programming but also in astrophysics.”
He said in the interview with the Athens-Macedonian News Agency, “After this challenging training, the professor in charge considered me not only competent but also the ideal student to be given the opportunity to analyse space data with the professor in charge.
I will not hide that during my first academic semester I demonstrated perseverance, patience, but above all passion!”
Menelaos Raptis will join several other young scientists from Greece and around the world at NASA paving the way for new findings in astronomy.
