A portrait on prof Iván Almár - his Experiences and his Opinion on the Role of Astronautics in Hungary in the Period 1957-1980

Paper number

IAC-14,E4,1,5,x27007

Author

Ms. Paivi Jukola, Aalto University, Finland

Year

2014

Abstract

This article is the first in a proposed novel session for the IAC and its History Symposium in the format of memoirs or interviews. The aim of the new concept is to invite various personalities for plenaries, roundtable discussions and interviews from the early days of the IAF and IAA with secured funding for travel costs as is customary for keynote lectures. Some engineers and experts focus their time in their scientific research; others reserve time for writing memoirs during their retirement. The new proposed session offers the opportunity for experts and public at large for insights from those who have seen the transformation of the space sector from The Cold War to international collaboration. The proposal shall be presented for the IAA History Committee for discussion during the IPC meetings in March 2014 in Paris.


This paper discusses the birth of space research in the Cold War Hungary: environment and consequences as seen by Dr.Iván Almár. Prof Almar attended his first IAF congress in 1962. He was vice president of the IAF in 1982-84 and he was an organizer of the last IAC-congress within an East Block country in 1983 in Budapest. He has been a member of IAA since 1984. He co-chaired the IAA SETI Committee for 11 years. He was chairman of the Multilingual Space Terminology Committee and guest editor of the Multilingual Space Dictionary. He was President of IAA Commission VI (Space and Society) in 2004-2005. Prof Almár is still actively connected to Konkoly Observatory of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and works on papers and presenting lectures in Hungary. He was chairman of the Hungarian Space Research Board for a decade; he is honorary president of the Hungarian Astronautical Society.

Abstract document

IAC-14,E4,1,5,x27007.brief.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-14,E4,1,5,x27007.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

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