In a meeting hosted by the American Cultural Center in Algeria
On Tuesday, the American Cultural Center in Algiers received the Algerian NASA engineer, Karim Bouchoucha.
According to what the US embassy reported in a Facebook post, Bouchoucha shared his experience on the “Artemis 2” space mission with a group of Algerian youth.
The communications engineer also spoke with the participants about education, science and technology, and the future of space exploration.
“Bouchoucha’s experience highlights the opportunities that science and knowledge can achieve in terms of cooperation and exchange of experiences,” he added Source.
Algerian engineer Karim Bouchoucha participated in leading the “Artemis 2” mission for the American space agency “NASA”. Which brought humans back to discovering the moon, in a manned mission that was the first of its kind in half a century.
Bouchoucha said in a Facebook post last April: “Finally, the launch of the Artemis 2 mission has been completed,” adding: “A few hours ago, my team and I launched this powerful rocket toward the moon.”
The resident of the city of Bejaia, who has been working for NASA since 2017, continued: “It was a delicate mission, full of many challenges, and entailing serious risks for the crew on board. But I can now officially announce this: We have succeeded.”
From Awqas to the heart of NASA… an Algerian success story in America
Bouchoucha was born in 1973 in Oukas, in the province of Bejaia, where he obtained his primary, intermediate and secondary education. Before continuing his university education at the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering in Boumerdes.
The aspiring Algerian engineer traveled to the United States in 2007, after succeeding in the green card program lottery. He began his life there as an employee at a car rental company, to finance his studies at American universities.
After graduating with a degree as a communications engineer, Karim applied for several jobs, before obtaining a position as a communications engineer at the level of the American space agency NASA, for which he works to this day.
Algerian couscous on the menu on the “Artemis 2” mission to the moon
The astronauts participating in the Artemis 2 mission to the moon relied on a carefully designed menu. It consists of several foods that combine nutritional value with ease of storage and preparation, and what is interesting about it is that it includes Algerian couscous.
Couscous, which is the main dish in all regions of Algeria, appears on the menu revealed by NASA in early March. In addition to other foods such as grilled beef steaks, vegetable pies, pumpkin, cauliflower, and some types of nuts and fruit salads.
NASA said, “The foods served on board the Artemis 2 spacecraft are designed to support the health and performance of the crew during their mission around the moon.” Pointing out the necessity of “choosing all meals with great care, to ensure their safety, suitability for storage, and ease of preparation and eating on board the vehicle.”
“Food options are developed, in coordination with space nutrition experts and the crew, to balance the astronauts’ needs for calories, hydration, and nutrients, taking into account each individual’s preferences,” he adds. Source.
On Wednesday, April 1, 4 astronauts launched from Florida, United States, on a 10-day journey around the moon.
The rocket that transported the flight vehicle, “Artemis 2,” was launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, in a place close to the starting point of the last flight of astronauts to the moon, within the framework of the American “Apollo” program in the 1970s.
