Kees Veenenbos
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¨ What is it like in
Zwolle? Where exactly is Zwolle in the Netherlands?
¨ Were you ever athletic at any sport?
¨ When you were a kid, what did you want to be
when you grew up?
¨ When you were our age, did being part of
Mars projects seem like a great job?
¨ What is your
favorite planet? Why?
¨ Do you have any
pets?
¨ When did you move
to the U.S.?
¨ What is your
favorite color? Why?
¨ Where did you read
the Pale Blue Dot? Is it your favorite
book?
¨ What was/is your
favorite shuttle?
¨ Did you go to
college? If so, where and how long?
¨ What elementary
school did you go to, and where?
¨ Have you seen our
Mars Project?
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QUESTION:
What is it like in Zwolle? Where exactly is Zwolle
in the Netherlands? And even where is the
Netherlands?
ANSWER
from Kees Veenenbos on 11 January 2004:
Zwolle is an old town with about 125.000 habitants.
The town lies 40 km north of the town Apeldoorn where I
live now. Nearby is the large river IJssel.
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QUESTION:
Were you ever athletic at any sport?
ANSWER
from Kees Veenenbos on 11 January 2004:
I still like to run
and to bike in the nearby woods and the wide landscapes
of Apeldoorn. At the east is the National Park De
Hoge Veluwe were people can enjoy nature. I run in
the weekend and often use the bike to make long trips of
about 70 km. I use also my bike to go to my work.
It keeps me fit and may be healthier.:) Afterwards
I feel relaxed and stronger.
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QUESTION:
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you
grew up?
ANSWER
from Kees Veenenbos on 11 January 2004:
When I was young I
enjoyed reading about dinosaurs, fossils, ancient Egypt,
astronomy and other sciences. I was not focused at
one field of science. So at the time I wanted to
work in archeology or astronomy. I still read a lot
about all these sciences. Exploring is often fun
and interesting. I am as excited as can be now the
Spirit rover has landed safely and explorations of this
ancient lake will start in about a week from now!
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QUESTION:
When you were our age, did being part of Mars projects
seem like a great job?
ANSWER
from Kees Veenenbos on 11 January 2004:
Mars was not yet much
of an issue in the days when I was young. The most
exciting things were the first launches into orbit of the
Russians and Americans in the sixties, like the Gemini
projects. Later on the Apollo missions to the moon.
But since the Mariner and Viking missions Mars got my
interest.
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QUESTION:
What is your favorite planet? Why?
ANSWER
from Kees Veenenbos on 11 January 2004:
Mars is for me the
most interesting planet at the moment. It is the
planet that resembles most at the earth. I was as
excited as the scientists when the first large color
photo that the Spirit took was put on the Internet.
I just made a combined terrain map of the MOLA data and
two THEMIS photo's of the landings site. I can
continue to make nice images with the MOLA data for the
next few years.
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QUESTION:
Do you have any pets?
ANSWER
from Kees Veenenbos on 11 January 2004:
As I live alone at the
moment I don't have pets. I had a dog a few years
ago. I liked that very much. She got 12 years
old before she died. She was a Beaceron, a french
shepherd dog with black and red 'socks'.
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QUESTION:
When did you move to the U.S.?
ANSWER
from Kees Veenenbos on 11 January 2004:
I live in The
Netherlands and I don't need to move to the US to be able
to contribute to the visualizations of Mars. That's
the power of Internet. I can communicate with
everybody who has a computer. And I get e-mails
every day from people who are interested in my work.
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QUESTION:
What is your favorite color? Why?
ANSWER
from Kees Veenenbos on 11 January 2004:
I like red colors but
also cool colors like deep blue as they have a nice
contrast. The colors of Mars are reddish and
sometimes also yellow and brown. For the contrast I
use for the ancient visualizations often the thicker
atmosphere that might have been bluish like the earth
atmosphere.
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QUESTION:
Where did you read the Pale Blue Dot Is it
your favorite book? If not, what is?
ANSWER
from Kees Veenenbos on 11 January 2004:
I read Pale Blue
Dot about a year ago. I am interested in all
kind of books, but like a lot to read about old and new
findings about Mars for example. I bought a lot of
old NASA books, like mission reports about the Mariner
and Viking missions. At that time they knew already
a lot about our neighbour planet!! Things they
didn't expect are that there is so much ice in the crust
of Mars. And it will be certain that the scientists
will encounter a lot surprises in the next few months
when the rover missions are on their way.
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QUESTION:
What was/is your favorite shuttle?
ANSWER
from Kees Veenenbos on 11 January 2004:
It was the Challenger.
The name gives the spirit to go into space. It was
a disaster when the Challenger exploded in 1986.
Going into space will always be a risky adventure.
It will never be routine. But all who went into
space would like to go again. Like John Glenn also
enjoyed his ride so many years after he went into space.
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QUESTION:
Did you go to college? If so, where and how long?
ANSWER
from Kees Veenenbos on 11 January 2004:
I went to college in
Zwolle and was there for about 6 years.
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QUESTION:
What elementary school did you go to, and where?
ANSWER
from Kees Veenenbos on 11 January 2004:
I also went to
elementary school in Zwolle. And there I learned
also during 6 years.
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QUESTION:
Have you seen our Mars Project?
ANSWER
from Kees Veenenbos on 11 January 2004:
I see your Mars
project. I have a son who plays a lot with K'nex,
but this is something very interesting making a model of
a rover robot! And you have to work together to get
the rover assembled. I think it is fun and you'll
all learn from this experience. Solving problems
and enjoying the results once the rover moves in the
right direction. These are experiences that you'll
remember for a long time. It will be helpful once
you'll have to make a choice what to choose as a
profession.
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