Claude Nicollier
The man who has done it all
James Perry, Editing Director
Image credit: NASA
On a recent visit to the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Swiss astronaut Claude Nicollier took the time to answer some questions on his career, advice, and thoughts for the future.
Q: Could you briefly introduce yourself?
CN: I’m Claude Nicollier from Switzerland, I just turned 80 years of age last year so I’m no longer a young man – but I was in the past, like everyone! I was born in 1944 at the end of the last world war, which Switzerland was not really involved in. I had a happy childhood in Vevey, near Lausanne in the West, French-speaking part of Switzerland. Very early on I really had a passion for airplanes, for the sky. I looked at the planets, the moon and star clusters with a small teles...