Who is Marcos Pontes, the new Minister of Science and Technology

the elected president Jair Bolsonaro, who has a very active Twitter account, released the name of yet another minister of his future government on the social network. Mark Bridges, known for being the first Brazilian to go into space, will now be appointed to the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Marcos Pontes and his 40-year career

Graduated from the Technological Institute of Aeronautics and Master in Systems Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School of California, USA, Mark Bridges has been working in the field of science and technology for over 40 years.

In 1981, the Brazilian entered the Brazilian air force, where he was a test pilot, instructor and fighter squadron leader. Upon ending his military duties in 1998, Mark Bridges, who was selected in a public contest of the Brazilian Space Agency, started to represent Brazil as an astronaut at NASA.

On March 29, 2006, the astronaut flew into space and marked Brazilian history, being the first and only one to accomplish such a feat until then. the russian ship Soyuz-TMA 8, responsible for taking it to International Space Station, took off from the Baikonur base in Kazakhstan, with two other astronauts: Russian Pavel Vinogradov and American Jeffrey Williams.

Today, in addition to giving lectures at NASA – where he still works – Mark Bridges He is also a Goodwill Ambassador at the United Nations (UN).

Bolsonaro's Invitation

Although the news was given today (31), through a tweet by Jair Bolsonaro, Mark Bridges had already communicated the president-elect's invitation on October 29, the day after the election results. In the communiqué, Bridges claimed to be "very happy" with the invitation to become Minister of Science and Technology and took the opportunity to say that his area should seek innovations compatible with the Brazilian reality:

"As I always say, education to form qualified citizens; science, to develop specific ideas and solutions for Brazil; technology, to transform these ideas into innovations, which will turn into new products. These will turn into new companies, which will generate new jobs. This virtuous cycle is what we want to create here in Brazil”, explains the astronaut, through a video published on Facebook.

This was not the first news brought by Bolsonaro, as Mark Bridges is the fourth minister chosen by the president-elect. the other three cabinet indicated by Bolsonaro were: deputy Onyx Lorenzoni (DEM-RS) for the Civil House; Paulo Guedes, for the Ministry of Economy; and General Augusto Heleno for the Ministry of Defense.

Below you can see the tweet posted on the official account of Bolsonaro:

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