Roger-Maurice Bonnet, CNES Assistant Director General, Science, has been elected President of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR). He succeeds Gerhard Haerendel.

Monday 14 October at 4.30 p.m., the COSPAR Council, meeting during its 34th Scientific Assembly at the World Space Congress, held from 10 to 19 October 2002 in Houston, USA, elected Professor Roger-Maurice Bonnet as its new President for a four-year renewable term. He will take up his post at the end of the Congress.

Formed in 1958, COSPAR is an international forum open to scientists worldwide. The organization’s objectives are to promote research in space at international level and provide a forum for scientists to discuss issues concerning scientific space research. COSPAR achieves these objectives through meetings and a Scientific Assembly that takes place every two years. The 2004 Scientific Assembly will be held in Paris, France.

After his election, Roger-Maurice Bonnet said:

“We must make every effort to sustain and raise the already very high level of excellence that COSPAR has achieved. That means not only choosing subjects, symposia and conferences wisely through careful critical analysis, but also publishing results in new ways and more promptly by providing scientists with platforms and reviews scientifically renowned as the best in their class.

In the years ahead, space probes and observatories, observation missions, experiments on board the International Space Station and on other space platforms are going to yield a wealth of results. The scientific community has a right to gain access to these results and the duty to use them as a vital source for education and learning. Here, too, COSPAR must offer the most effective means of communication available today.

Lastly, COSPAR must also allow scientists involved in experimental work to present their results, plans and projects. In this way, it will help to strengthen and promote the key role of technology in exploring and using space for scientific purposes.”

As part of its research activities, CNES has for many years played an active role alongside other national space agencies in sustaining COSPAR as an exceptional scientific forum.

 
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