Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ( ) is a
retired officer in the
Royal Saudi
Air Force who flew aboard the
STS-51-G
Space Shuttle mission as a
Payload
Specialist. He is a grandson of King
Ibn
Saud and is the only Saudi citizen to travel in space. He was
also the first
Arab, the first
Muslim and the first member of
royalty in space.
Background
Sultan was
born June 27, 1956, in
Riyadh
, Saudi
Arabia
, the second son of the Governor of Riyadh Province
, Prince Salman bin
Abdulaziz. He completed his elementary and secondary education in Riyadh, and earned a master's in
Social and Political Science at Syracuse University
in the USA
. He is a certified civil pilot (FAA,
USA-1978) and a fighter pilot, Colonel (retired)- Royal Saudi Air
Force.
Sultan bin Salman is one of many nephews of the
King of Saudi Arabia,
Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al
Saud.
Experience
In 1982, he was appointed to the position of researcher in the
Department of International Communications at the
Ministry of Information in Saudi
Arabia.
In 1984, he served as Deputy Director for the Saudi Arabian
Olympic Information
Committee at the
Olympics
in Los Angeles, California. Later that year, when the Department of
Advertising was created at the Ministry of Information, he was
appointed its Acting Director.
In 1985, he flew as a
payload
specialist on
STS-51-G Discovery (
June 17-
24, 1985).
As one of
a seven-member international crew, which also included American
and French
astronauts, he represented the Arab Satellite
Communications Organization (ARABSAT) in deploying their
satellite, ARABSAT-1B. Upon
conclusion of his flight, he helped to found the
Association of Space
Explorers, an international organization comprising all
astronauts and
cosmonauts who have been in
space, and served on its Board of Directors for several
years.
In 1985, Sultan recorded a commercial message that was broadcast on
MTV during the Live Aid concert event. His message mentioned his
recent trip on the Space Shuttle. He was one of 33 individuals
including
Caesar Chavez,
Coretta Scott King,
Carl Sagan,
Jessie
Jackson and
Peter
Ueberroth.
In 1985 he was commissioned as an officer into the
Royal Saudi Air Force. He holds the
rank of
Lieutenant Colonel, and
is qualified in several military and civilian
aircraft.
In 1986, Sultan bought the old Al-'Udhaibat farm in the
Wadi Hanifa, west of Riyadh. On the advice of
Abdel-Wahed El-Wakil, who
introduced him to the works of
Hassan
Fathy, he began a project of restoring the main farm building
built in the traditional way with
adobe walls.
Under the direction of the Egyptian architect
Saleh Lamei the project grew to a general study
of traditional Saudi architecture and its adaption to modern
techniques and needs. This spurred Sultan's involvement with the
education of architects and civil engineers within the
kingdom.
In 1989 and again in 1992, he was elected to the position of
Chairman of the Saudi Benevolent Association for Handicapped
Children, where he also served as the Chairman of the Board of
Trustees for the
Prince Salman
Center for Disability Research.
In 1991, he accepted an invitation from the Board of Directors of
the
Saudi Computer Society to
become Honorary Chairman, and in 1993 due to his special interest
in
architecture he agreed to serve as
Honorary
President of the al-Umran Saudi
Association (a society of specialists in the fields of the
built environment).
Sultan became the Secretary-General of the
Supreme
Commission for Tourism & Antiquities in 2000. His term of
service was extended for another four years in February
2008.,
He enjoys gliding and skiing in his spare time .
Current Activities
- President & Chairman of the Board, The Saudi
Commission for Tourism & Antiquities , KSA.
- Member
of the Board of Directors & Executive Committee, Chairman of
the King Khaled International
Airport
(KKIA) Supervisory Committee - General Authority of Civil
Aviation (GACA)
- Chairman of the Board of Directors, The Disabled Children
Association (DCA), KSA.
- Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Prince Salman
Center for Disability Research (PSCDR), KSA.
- Founder and President, Al Turath, KSA (an organization
dedicated to the preservation and development of Saudi national
heritage).
- Founder and Chairman of the Board, The Saudi Aviation Club
- Chairman of the Executive Committee, The Prince Salman Science
Oasis (A science center and museum)
- Founding Member and Member of the Board, The Graduates Society
of Model Institute of the Capital, Riyadh, KSA.
- Member of the Executive Committee Development Ad-Diriyah,
KSA.
- Member of the Board of Trustees, King AbdulAziz Foundation-al
Madinah al-Monawarah, KSA.
References
- A prince in space at Saudi Aramco
World, January/February 1986, p20-29
- Al-'Udhaibat, building on the past at Saudi Aramco
World, July/August 1999, p32-45
- from the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in
Washington
- Article in the Arab News from the 12th February
2008.
- On a Wing & a Prayer, Arab News, 29 June
2006
- SCT fact sheet
External links
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