6 September 2010 Issue

The International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) is pleased to announce the 2010 newly elected Members and Corresponding Members .

17 July Academy Day, Bremen, Germany, on the occasion of the 50th year anniversary celebration, Park Hotel, Bremen. Gregg Vane, Dan Baker, Dave Kendall cochaired the meeting that was attended by 80 Academicians including Dr Madhavan Nair, President IAA, Prof. Roger Bonnet, President of COSPAR, Prof. Ed Stone, past President IAA and Dr. Jean Michel Contant, Secretary General IAA. Pu Zuyin, Hannu Koskinnen and Karl-Heinz Glassmeier reveived newly elected diploma. On 19 July 2010:  Lev Zelenyi, Director IKI, Moscow, received the Basic Sciences Award of the Academy from Dr. Madhavan Nair and S. Krimigis, during the opening ceremony of the COSPAR Scientific Assembly in Bremen, Germany.

Academician Claudio Maccone, Italy, has been named IAA Technical Director, Scientific Space Exploration. He will oversee projects and programs of the International Academy of Astronautics. On 20 July 2010 he presented an article on "A Protected Antipode Circle (PAC)" at the center of the Moon Farside, during the 3rd NASA Lunar Science Forum at NASA Ames Research Center.

8 July 2010:  IAA Meeting in Stockholm, Sweden, the city where the Academy was established 50 years ago. Valery Menshikov, Efim M. Malitikov and Jean-Michel Contant co-chaired a roundtable discussion on the innovative solutions in joint programs and projects. This event was preceeded by a seminar on the potential of micro and nanotechnologies in joint international projects.

05-08 July 2010:  First IAA/RACT Workshop on Monitoring Global Phenomena and Man-Made Disasters, Riga, Latvia. 250 participants from 22 countries are discussing  involvement of scientists and professionals for topical issues of space exploration and use space technology for global security, political, legal, organizational and technical aspects of IGMASS project implementation. Jean Michel Contant, IAA, Secretary General, France, Valery A. Menshikov, RAC, Vice President, Russia, Efim M. Malitikov, IAZ, President, Russia and Igor Kabashkin, TTI, President, Latvia chaired the workshop.

02 July 2010:  1st IAA Regional Meeting, Minsk, Belarus. Dr. Sergey Zolotoy, IAA Regional Secretary and Director & Design Manager of the Belarusian Space System of Earth Remote Sensing chaired the meeting. Dr. Jean-Michel Contant, Secretary General of the IAA, Dr.Phys.-Math.Sc. Alexander Tusikov, General Director of the State United Institute pf Informatics Problems and Academician Sergey Oblameyko, Rector of the Belarusian State University were among keynote speakers. Prof. Mikhail Myasnikovich, Chairman of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus received the Academy delegation and signed MOU for IGMASS project. Belarus is welcomed among the new countries represented in the Academy. 

The first ceremony of the 50th IAA anniversary celebration was held in Kiev, Ukraine at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine on 18 June 2010 with participants from a dozen of countries. The Vice-President Stanislav Konyukhov chaired the one-day regional meeting and the Secretary General Jean-Michel Contant presented the review of 50 years of excellence.  Mr. Yurii Aleksieiev Director General of the National Space Agency of Ukraine was present. Leonid Kuchma, former President of Ukraine and former Director General of YUZHMASH, received his pin of new member of the Academy during a brief ceremony followed by a reception. Alexander Degtyarev, First Deputy General Designer at Yuzhnoye SDO, Ukrainian Regional Office Secretary gave a presentation of the Ukrainian space activities. On this occasion a booklet about the IAA entitled "50 years at the service of peace " was issued as well as other anniversary gifts. On 19 June 2010, participants were invited to visit not far from Kiev the small Ukrainian town of Zhytomyr where Korolev was born in 1907. On this occasion, on behalf  of the Academy, the Secretary General Jean-Michel Contant deposed flowers at Korolev monument in the center of the city.

On the occasion of its 50th anniversary, a Space Agencies Summit will be held on 17 November 2010 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington DC with the primary support of Lockheed Martin Corporation and supporting sponsorship from EADS Astrium, Space News, and ANA Airline. The IAA Board of Trustees has identified four main topics:  Climate Change / Green Systems, Disaster Management / Natural Hazards,  Planetary/Lunar Exploration, Human Spaceflight. The attempt is to reach a broad consensus on international cooperation and coordination at the highest level in those four areas and eventually consider new concrete initiatives of cooperation. It is the Academy intent to avoid any duplication of on-going efforts but rather to foster closer and broader international coordination across the four topics areas to strengthen the effectiveness and support of global space activities. On 29 July 2010: in Paris, France, President Madhavan Nair and Vice-President Yannick dEscatha announced that 20 Heads of Space Agencies have officially confirmed their participation to the Summit to be held on November 17 in Washington DC, USA.
 

Acta Astronautica Journal, Volume 67, numbers 1-2, July/August 2010, is now available

02 July, 1st IAA Regional Meeting, Minsk, Belarus

05-08 July, First IAA/RACT Workshop on Monitoring Global Phenomena and Man-Made Disasters, Riga, Latvia

30-31 August 2010:  50th Anniversary Memorial Symposium What can we do for our mother Earth, Nagoya, Japan

10 June 2010 Academician Claudio Maccone presented to the United Nations COPUOS in Vienna, Austria, a proposal for establishing a new radio-quiet zone on the farside of the Moon. Recommendations: Use the Earth-Sun L2 only (and not the Earth-Moon L2) as a servicing station and as a Low-gravity launching platform for large spacecrafts to Mars, the Asteroids, and all the outer solar system bodies.

Academician Rainer Sandau, Germany, has been named IAA Technical Director, Satellite and Space Applications. He will oversee the Sustainable Development Program of the International Academy of Astronautics.

30 May 2010, Opening Ceremony of the IAA Studies Center in Beijing China: IAA Vice President Academician Liu Jiyuan, Minister Chen Qiufa Information and Technology, Academician and Trustee Xu Guanhua, former Minister and Dr. Jean-Michel Contant presided over the meeting attended by more than 200 participants.

29-30 May 2010 First Workshop on Coordination and Cooperation for Global Environment Impact, Institute of Remote Sensing Application, 5th floor, Beijing, China. This workshop Chaired by Academician Gu Xinfa, is part of the new IAA Study Group 4.11 (Earthquake forecasting and emergency response for natural disaster, public sanitation and human health, global climate change). Academician Ma Xingrui, President of CAST, Wu Zhijian, Director General SASTIND, and Academician Xu Guanhua attended the meeting. Africa was represented at the workshop. Experts are welcomed to participate to the study group work during the year to come.

During an official visit in Tunis 6-8 May 2010, Dr Contant Secretary General and Academician Trustee Mustapha Masmoudi, received from Mr. Mohammed Naceur Ammar, Minister of Communication Technology, confirmation acceptance about the creation of an IAA  regional office in Tuniis. Mrs Lamia Chafaii, Secretary of State proposed to the Academy to participate to the ICT4all conference in November 2010 in Tunisia as a main partner. Mr Refat Chaabouni, Secretary of State for Scientific Research discussed future activity in North Africa. The IAA will organize in conjunction with the UN year of youth a conference for Youth and Space in Tunisia in July 2011.     

The Regional Secretary Tomukum Chia, from Yaounde, Cameroon, was working with the Paris secretariat during nearly one month (April). He trained on using the Academy website and submitted two study applications. Those international studies, for the first time leaded by Cameroon experts, will address Lake Chad desertification and a project of small satellite for Cameroon. He received many IAA published studies for preparing an IAA Node (IAA library and documentation center) for subsaharian Africa to be open shortly.  

The Syrian national television and several newspapers reported on the first IAA Regional Conference in Middle East held on 4th March 2010 in Damascus, Syria. Dr Eng. Hussein Ibrahim, IAA Regional Secretary for Middle East, chaired the meeting. Dr JM Contant made a first presentation on "50th Years of IAA and Middle East Strategy". Dr R. Sandau, DLR Berlin,  presented a paper on "Small Satellites - Status and Prospects" and a second paper on "Small Satellites Missions: a Powerful Tool for Capacity Building". Among participants Deputy Ministers of Education, High Education, Culture and Environment were present. In addition, General Mohammad Fares, first Syrian Cosmonaut who flew in 1987 was attending. Participants discussed preparation of the first conference in Syria to be held on 18-21 October 2010 in Damascus.

On February 6th 2010 in Bangalore, India, the new IAA President, Dr. Madhavan Nair, chaired the inaugural function of the International Academy of Astronautics permanent presence in India with the opening of an office to host the new Branch devoted to the secretariat of the IAA standalone conferences worldwide. Dr. Jean-Michel Contant was the Chief Guest. The IAA has sigificantly grown during the last few years with 21 regional meetings, stand alone symposia and conferences and symposia in 2009 totaling gathering of over 4000 participants. In 2009 the Academy had two meetings in Darmstadt, Germany, two conferences in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, then Granada, Spain, Paris, France, Yaounde, Cameroon, Vienna, Austria, Berlin, Germany, Moscow, Russia, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA, Tsukuba, Japan, Aosta, Italy, Goa, India, Toronto, Canada, Graz, Austria, Bucharest, Romania, Daejon, South Korea, Limassol, Cyprus, Abuja, Nigeria and Baikonour, Kazakhstan.  No need to say that time is arrived to have a specialized department of the Academy devoted to the management of this activity which was anticipated in the strategic plan of the organisation. The Academy is grateful to the Astronautical Society of India and to ISRO for the support of this activity. 

The International Academy of Astronautics celebrating 50 years will have a blooming activity and development. After the opening of the Bangalore Branch of the Academy secretariat we are pleased to announce the creation of a second Branch in China end of May 2010 and of two new Nodes in Africa and one in Middle East: Tunis, Yaounde and Damscus. This infrastructure will be at the service of the members, searchers and students. As of today there are currently 33 regional secretaries (see http://iaaweb.org/content/view/139/238/).

On 25-26 January 2010 the Academy was invited by the Royal Society, London, UK, to participate to the first discussion meeting on the Detection of extra-terrestrial life and the consequences for science and society.  On January 26th, Lord Martin Rees, President of the Royal Society (RAS) and Dr. Jean-Michel Contant, Secretary General IAA announced in London the Second IAA-RAS Symposium on Searching for Life Signatures, to be held at The Royal Society Kavli Centre, Milton Keynes, UK, October 4th-7th 2010. Dr John Zarnecki and Dr. Claudio Maccone are going to chair the scientific program committee. With this events, 2010 appears to be a major milestone in the recognition of the search for extraterrestrial scientific community. The IAA which was since 1971 the first international organisation to recognize and host this community is particularly pleased. 

New 20 languages Space Dictionaries available Free of charge:   Free Download or online access at http://iaaweb.org/content/view/362/510/

We have lost mail contact with the following members. Any information is welcomed.

Obituary