Background
He was born in New York and raised in the Bronx.
He was born in New York and raised in the Bronx.
In 1961 he earned his Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics and Engineering Physics from University of Wisconsin. In 1963 he graduated from Cornell University with a Masters of Science in Engineering Mechanics. In 1971 he graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy from the Aeronautics and Astronautics Department of Massachusetts Institute of Technology with his thesis on “Extracting Scientific Information from Spacecraft Tracking Data.”.
He worked for Alloy Valves and Control Space Systems Division from 1963 to 1968. From 1970 through 1980 he was with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) leading the Advanced Planetary Studies and the post-Viking Mars Program. Other projects at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory include Mariner-Venus-Mercury, Planetary Grand Tour (Voyager), Venus Orbital Imaging Radar (Magellan probe), Halley"s Comet Rendezvous-Solar Sail, and the Mars Program.
Human spaceflight : from Mars to the stars.
University of Arizona Press, Tucson 2015. Star Sailing: Solar Sails and Interstellar Flight, Louis Friedman, John Wiley & Sons Incorporated., 1988,, 146 pgs.
Project Director of the Solar Sail mission by The Planetary Society and Cosmos Studies: Cosmos I
Participant of the technical team on the Mars Balloon and Mars Rover for The Planetary Society
Asked to participate in both Congressional and Administrative reviews for American and Russian space missions
2004 Congressional Hearings on Space: United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation – National Aeronautics and Space Administration Future Space Mission
”Think Bigger About Mars” Louis Friedman, June 27, 2000
”A Space Nerd Responds” Louis Friedman, August 13, 2007
”Where will the Next 50 Years in Space Take Us? Expert Opinions” Popular Mechanics, September 2007
The Planetary Society – Executive Director and author of World Watch in the Planetary Report
Sigma Xi
American Astronautical Society
Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics – Congressional Fellow 1978-1979.