Bob Thirsk is well known to the Flight Control Team at the Columbus Control Center in Munich. Like other ESA astronauts he worked here as a EUROCOM (responsible for the voice communication with the ISS astronauts). The Flight Control Team attentively followed this very special ceremony and his colleagues in the EUROCOM position were very happy for Thirsk: “He really deserved it – we very much appreciate his calm, highly competent and always pleasant way of working together.”
The Munich team prepared a special greeting card for their colleague which was sent to the ISS together with a picture taken in the Columbus Control Center. For the formal congratulations the team still has to wait several months until Bob Thirsk has completed his tasks onboard the ISS where he works with the ESA astronaut Frank de Winne.as part of the six man crew. The Honorary Doctor of Laws is the second doctorate degree for Thirsk who in earlier years had earned a medical degree.