Itokawa Hideo

Hideo Itokawa (1961)

Itokawa Hideo ( Japanese 糸 川 英 夫 , * July 20, 1912 in Tokyo ; † February 21, 1999 ) was a pioneer of Japanese rocket technology and the Japanese space program . In Japan he worked as Dr. Rocket known.

Itokawa was gifted and skipped several grades. In 1935 he graduated from the Imperial University of Tokyo with a degree in aeronautical engineering . In 1941 he became a lecturer there.

During the Second World War he designed aircraft for the Nakajima Hikōki . He designed the Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa fighter aircraft .

In 1948 he was appointed full professor at Tokyo University. In 1967 he retired and founded his own institute.

Itokawa's interests were broad. He was active in many fields such as sports, philosophy , music (he played cello , organ , violin , taishokin (a type of xylophone ) and arranged pieces for orchestra ) and as a writer. He wrote 49 books, several of which became bestsellers .

The asteroid (25143) Itokawa , which was the target of the Hayabusa space probe, was named in his honor .

Web links

Commons : Itokawa Hideo  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Itokawa is the family name, Hideo the first name.