Caltech to Host Prestigious International Conference on Space Research

In July 2018, Caltech, with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will host the 42nd biennial scientific assembly of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) in Pasadena, California.

The Committee anticipates that the scientific meeting will attract more than 3,500 scientists from around the world to discuss highlights and major scientific advances in Earth and space sciences.

"As home to the Caltech campus and JPL, Pasadena is an excellent location for the 42nd COSPAR Scientific Assembly," says Professor of Physics Thomas Prince, director of Caltech's Keck Institute for Space Studies (KISS). "There is a rich legacy of space exploration and discovery at Caltech and JPL, including groundbreaking astrophysics research at the Palomar and Keck Observatories, and numerous successful robotic space missions, including Voyager, Cassini, the Mars Curiosity rover, and the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2."

Prince will serve as the chair of the International Scientific Program Committee, and JPL's Rosaly Lopes, manager of JPL's planetary science section and an expert in volcanology, will serve as the deputy chair. Caltech and JPL will work closely with the COSPAR Scientific Commissions to put together the program.

"JPL and Caltech are great hosts for this because collectively we're at the absolute forefront of space science, planetary science, Earth science, and space-based astronomy," says Gregg Vane, strategic planner in solar system exploration at JPL and chairman of the local organizing committee for the COSPAR 2018 Scientific Assembly.

COSPAR was founded in 1958 by the International Council for Science. The organization holds its assembly every other year in a different location to present the latest scientific results and to exchange knowledge about space research to an international audience.

Caltech manages JPL for NASA.