Claude Nicollier visits Ramseyer
Claude Nicollier is the first and to date only Swiss to visit space. He was the first European astronaut to complete a NASA extravehicular activity (EVA) and the first European to complete a total of four space flights.
Together with the rest of the crew, he proved himself in particular as an expert on the Hubble Space Telescope and also showed great skill in operating the shuttle's manipulation arm. During his service, he received several awards.
The objective of Claude Nicollier's visit to Ramseyer was to share the values of teamwork and good communication in order to achieve success in space (and on Earth!). With a lot of passion and knowledge, Mr Nicollier led through his presentation, which he gave in both German and French in a staggered manner.
In between, he enriched the stories from his time as an astronaut with several anecdotes. For example, Ramseyer's staff learned that Claude Nicollier proved himself on his first space mission by repairing the on-board toilet. This was a task that fitted a rookie like him perfectly and perhaps also paved the way for further space missions: "Claude fixed the toilet on his first mission".
He also revealed the pressure the team was under during his second space flight. The Hubble Space Telescope, which was launched in 1990, had minimal deviations of 2 microns in the optics, but this proved to be fatal for the high-precision instruments. The rescue mission had to succeed under all circumstances: "Failure is not an option". The selection of Claude Nicollier as a trained astrophysicist and astronaut for this mission on the Hubble telescope was on the one hand a great honour, on the other hand the team absolutely had to succeed. The massive improvement in the resolution of the images from space a few days after the mission then testified to its success.
In addition to many good impressions, the employees were also able to take away advice for their professional and private lives from the presentation. They learned what the recipe for success is and what Claude Nicollier's experiences in space were on this subject. This much can be said about it: Do things with passion! Train, train, train... Never stop!
We thank Claude Nicollier for this enriching and unforgettable visit to our company.