Mysore to host international summit on space research

About 3,000 scientists and students from 75 countries, including India, will deliberate on the benefits of space for humankind at a summit in Mysore, 150 km from here, beginning Monday. "The week-long summit (July 16-22) will deliberate on a global vision for space in 2020 and beyond.

Scientists from world over will deliberate on the contemporary issues related to the usage of space assets," a senior space official told IANS Friday. Hosted by the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the seven-day biennial 39th Scientific Assembly of the Committee on Space Research (Cospar-2012) will have six inter-disciplinary lectures, a presentation on 'A space astronomy global roadmap for the next decades' and a public lecture on exo-planets by experts.

ISRO is hosting COSPAR-2012 

As the Indian IT bellwether Infosys Ltd. is co-host of the international event, the assembly will be held at the N.R. Narayana Murthy Centre of Excellence in its sprawling campus on the outskirts of Mysore."The delegates will get an overview of the challenges the space community faces in utilising space resources and assets being built by space-faring countries from the 3,600 scientific papers, posters and reports that will be presented through 630 sessions during the summit," the official said.ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishnan will unveil India's space vision at a round-table conference on the inaugural day (Monday).

Being held for second time in India after the first one (23th session) in Bangalore in 1979, the scientific assembly reflects the prowess of India's space advances."The activities of ISRO in the recent past has attracted the attention of the international space-faring nations following the successful lunar mission Chandrayan-1 in 2008 and launch of multiple satellites for several international customers over the years in polar and geo-synchronous orbits using our rockets," the official said.Prior to the summit, the assembly will observe the 'International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) Day' Saturday, which will be followed by scientific and technical sessions Sunday onwards."The assembly is an ideal platform to present India as a significant venue for space research and innovation.

Hosting such a prestigious event offers our scientists an opportunity to get involved and benefit from interactions with their global counterparts," the official said.Former ISRO chairman and Physical Research Laboratory Council chairman U.R. Rao currently holds the chair of Cospar's scientific programme committee, while European Space Agency's advisor council Giovanni F. Bignami is its president. Set up in 1958 by the International Council for Science (ICSU), Cospar is a premier space science research association with national scientific institutions and international scientific unions as members.

"The association's objectives are to promote international space research, with emphasis on the exchange of results, information and opinions. These objectives are achieved through scientific assemblies, publications and other means, " the space agency said in a statement here.The scientific assembly also provides an interdisciplinary forum to exchange results in space research.The event also encourages students' participation and provides opportunities for them to interact with space science professionals, members of academia, space industries and government bodies from all over the world.

IANS