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COSPAR Selects Pasadena for 43rd Scientific Assembly

By Michelle Garrett — December 20, 2014

The space age opened in 1957 when the USSR launched its first Earth satellite into orbit. The International Council for Science established the Committee on Space Research the following year and now 60 years later, Pasadena will serve host to the 2018 COSPAR Scientific Convention. At the invitation of the National Academy of Sciences, Caltech and JPL, Pasadena was selected to host the 43rd Scientific Assembly, one of the most prominent scientific meetings in the world from July 14-22, 2018.

The space age opened in 1957 when the USSR launched its first Earth satellite into orbit. The International Council for Science established the Committee on Space Research the following year and now 60 years later, Pasadena will serve host to the 2018 COSPAR Scientific Convention. At the invitation of the National Academy of Sciences, Caltech and JPL, Pasadena was selected to host the 43rd Scientific Assembly, one of the most prominent scientific meetings in the world from July 14-22, 2018. The event is expected to attract more than 3,500 scientists from around the world and will be the largest city-wide conference ever to be held in Pasadena filling an anticipated 6,500 hotel room nights and bringing significant business to local restaurants, stores and cultural venues during their stay. “As home to the Caltech campus and JPL, Pasadena is an excellent location for the 42nd COSPAR Scientific Assembly,” said Thomas Prince, director of Caltech’s W.M. Keck Institute for Space Studies. "There is a rich legacy of space exploration and discovery at Caltech and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 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.” Since the early 20th century, Caltech and JPL have been recognized worldwide for their important contributions to science and technology. Some of the biggest advances in space science, astronomy, medicine, geology and space exploration have come from Pasadena institutions, and the city continues to build its reputation as a major center for science research and innovation. United States cities have hosted five previous COSPAR Assemblies – most recently in Houston in 2002. The 2014 COSPAR Scientific Assembly was held in Moscow in August. The 41st assembly will be held in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2016. You can learn more here.
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