November 12, 2007
For immediate release
Anahid Yeremian
P.O. Box 655, Menlo Park, CA 94026
<mailto:[email protected]>anahi [email protected]
650 – 926 – 4444
FIFTY YEARS OF SPACE EXPLORATION
As the world celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of space exploration,
representatives from around the globe gathered in Moscow and Washington
D.C. to reminisce about the events that led to the first missions
to space, to review space achievements since that time, and to offer
plans for future space exploration. Most delegates represented large
and powerful countries, such as the United States, Russia, Canada,
and Germany. It seems unbelievable that Armenia, a tiny country with
limited resources, would come shoulder to shoulder with these giants,
but, indeed, this was the case.
The first year of space exploration, 1957, was designated as the
International Geophysical Year (IGY-57). The year’s mission was
to begin a fifty-year period of space exploration so that we might
understand our own planet more thoroughly. The IGY-57 goals in space
exploration have led to vital accelerated technological advancements,
such as satellites (communication, weather, and research). Knowledge
gained about the environment beyond the earth’s atmosphere has led
to putting a man on the moon and to building a space research station
that has been staffed continuously.
The year 2007 marks the launch of the International Heliophysical Year
(IHY-07). This year’s aim is to begin a fifty-year period of exploring
the environment in the sun’s "neighborhood." The Cosmic Ray Division
of the Alikhanyan Physics Institute in Armenia has a very important
project associated with IHY-07, the Space Environmental Viewing and
Analysis Network (SEVAN). This project encompasses placing detectors
designed and made in Armenia in ten different countries. The European
office of the U.S. Air Force has already funded the SEVAN detector
that will be placed in Croatia. China is paying for one in Tibet. The
University of Costa Rica and the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New
Delhi are writing proposals to their respective governments to fund
the placement of several SEVAN detectors in their countries.
Professor Ashot Chilingarian, head of the Cosmic Ray Division of
the Alikhanyan Physics Institute and Armenia’s representative to the
Committee On Space Research (COSPAR), was an invited participant at
the 50 Years of Space celebration forum in Moscow, which was organized
by the Russian Academy of Sciences. He and the delegate from Ukraine
were the only two scientists from the former Soviet republics, other
than Russia, to be invited to deliver a speech. Other participants at
the celebration included Professor R. Bohnne (president of COSPAR)
and representatives from NASA, the European Space Agency, the Japan
Space Agency, and many major universities involved in space-related
explorations.
In Washington D.C., Professor Chilingarian participated in the Making
Science Global: Reconsidering the Social and Intellectual Implications
of the International Polar and Geophysical Years conference organized
by the Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institute. He presented
five subjects from the work in progress at the CRD that are vital
to the IHY-07 goals. The SEVAN network was once again highlighted as
a major project of the IHY-07. While in Washington, D.C., Professor
Chilingarian took advantage of the opportunity to meet with several
NASA colleagues and made a presentation at the National Science
Foundation to lay the ground for Armenia’s possible partnership in
several U.S. space exploratory projects.
Professor Chilingarian also met with many in the Diaspora, serving as
the keynote speaker for the Michigan chapter of the Armenian Engineers
and Scientists of America (AESA) 10-th anniversary banquet on October
26 and participating in a community forum at St. John Armenian Church
in Detroit. On November 3, Professor Chilingarian was the keynote
speaker at the AESA Greater Metropolitan Washingon Area Chapter’s
10-th anniversary luncheon at St. Mary Armenian Church in Washington
D.C. The interest of those in the Diaspora was evident from the many,
many questions addressed to Professor Chilingarian. Pleasure at the
achievements of the CRD and at the recognition these achievements
bring to Armenia was expressed repeatedly by many individuals at
these events.
Professor Chilingarian will be back in the U.S. in December to
attend the American Geophysical Union’s annual conference in San
Francisco. While here, he will speak at a public reception for the Bay
Area community on Sunday, December 9, from 2 – 4 p.m., at St. John
Armenian Church, 275 Olympia Way, San Francisco, as well as in Los
Angeles and Fresno (those dates and locations to be announced shortly)
The Diaspora’s support for the Cosmic Ray Division of the Alikhanian
Physics Institute continues to play a vital role in the world-class
achievements of the CRD. These include advancing space-related science
IN Armenia, educating the next generation of outstanding scientists IN
Armenia; creating opportunities for exciting employment in the field
of space science IN Armenia, and promoting a positive image of Armenia
to the world. For more information and to support the CRD in Armenia,
please visit <;www.crdfriends.o rg .