Interviews

Dr. Wendy Watson-Wright is the executive secretary of the international oceanographic commission (IOC) and the assistant director general at UNESCO.

Dr. Francisco Javier Mendieta Jiménez is the director general of the Agencia Espacial Mexicana (AEM).

Gérard Brachet is Co-President of the GLAC Programme Committee

ZHAOYAO WANG IS THE DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE CHINA MANNED SPACE AGENCY (CMSA). QIN ZHANG IS THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF THE CHINA ASSOCIATION FOR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (CAST).

LUIGI DE MAGISTRIS WAS ELECTED MAYOR OF NAPLES IN MAY 2011. PREVIOUSLY, AS A MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,HE SERVED AS PRESIDENT OF THE COMMISSION ON BUDGETARY CONTROL AND WORKED ON ISSUES SUCH AS TRANSPARENCY OF INVESTMENT FUND ALLOCATION AND HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS. HE TALKS TO US ABOUT NAPLES AS THE HOST CITY FOR IAC 2012.

GONG JINYU IS DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE CHINESE SOCIETY OF ASTRONAUTICS, RESPONSIBLE FOR ACADEMIC EXCHANGES AND POPULAR SCIENCE WORK. GONG HOLDS A MASTERS DEGREE IN ENGINEERING AND SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT FROM THE HARBIN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND HAS BEEN WITH THE CSA FOR EIGHT YEARS. FOR THE PAST THREE MONTHS, SHE HAS BEEN ON ASSIGNMENT AT THE IAF SECRETARIAT AS PART OF CHINA’S EFFORT TO PREPARE IAC 2013 IN BEIJING. WE ASKED HER HOW SHE VIEWED THIS EXPERIENCE.

ENRICO SAGGESE IS THE PRESIDENT OF THE ITALIAN SPACE AGENCY AND IAC 2012 LOCAL ORGANISING COMMITTEE CHAIR. ASI PRESIDENT CHATS ABOUT PREPARATIONS FOR IAC 2012, ITALIAN SPACE PROGRAMME.

PATRICIA HYNES SERVES AS THE DIRECTOR FOR THE NEW MEXICO SPACE GRANT CONSORTIUM AND NASA EPSCOR, BOTH PROGRAMMES ARE FUNDED BY THE UNITED STATE CONGRESS AND ADMINISTERED BY NASA. DR HYNES IS ALSO THE CHAIR OF THE INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM FOR PERSONAL AND COMMERCIAL SPACEFLIGHT.

VOLKER LIEBIG TOOK UP DUTY AS DIRECTOR OF EARTH OBSERVATION PROGRAMMES(D/EOP) AND HEAD OF ESRIN IN OCTOBER 2004. ESRIN, ESA’S CENTRE IN ITALY, IS SITUATED IN FRASCATI NEAR ROME.

DR PETER MARTINEZ IS THE COORDINATOR FOR THE NATIONAL WORKING GROUP ON SPACE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA. CAPE TOWN HOSTED IAC2011.

ANNIE MOULIN WAS THE DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASTRONAUTICAL FEDERATION UNTIL HER RETIREMENT AT CHRISTMAS 2009.

RIJENDRA THAPA IS CURRENTLY ENROLLED AS MASTER FIRST YEAR STUDENT OF PHYSICS AT ST.XAVIER’S COLLEGE AFFILIATED TO TRIBHUWAN UNIVERSITY AND HE IS A FOUNDER OF THE NEPAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY (NASO). HE WAS INTERVIEWED IN DAEJEON AS ONE OF THE RECIPIENTS OF THE IAC 2009 YOUTH GRANTS PROGRAMME.

DENNIS STONE GRADUATED IN PHYSICS AND ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII. HE IS PROGRAM INTEGRATION MANAGER, COMMERCIAL CREW & CARGO PROGRAM OFFICE AT THE NASA JOHNSON SPACE CENTER. HE LED THE BUSINESS EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS FOR COMMERCIAL ORBITAL TRANSPORTATION SERVICES (COTS) FUNDING FROM NASA AND SUPPORTS THE COTS PARTNERS AND MANAGEMENT OF THE PROGRAMME. STONE IS PRESIDENT OF THE WORLD SPACE WEEK ASSOCIATION WHICH HE CO-FOUNDED IN 1981.

AMBASSADOR HEUNG-SIK CHOI IS THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE 2009 IAC LOCAL ORGANISING COMMITTEE (LOC). HE HAS BEEN INSTRUMENTAL IN BRINGING THE IAC TO KOREA IN 2009 AND IS A KEY MEMBER OF THE LOC, PUTTING AN EMPHASIS ON THE IMPORTANCE OF INVOLVEMENT OF YOUTH.
AS A MEMBER OF THE FOREIGN SERVICE OF THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA, HE HAS BEEN THE CONSUL IN BOSTON USA, MINISTER IN FRANCE, AMBASSADOR TO ALGERIA, CONSUL GENERAL IN HONOLULU, AMBASSADOR TO THE CITY OF DAEJEON, AND IS NOW THE FOREIGN SERVICE ADVISOR TO THE CITY OF DAEJEON.

QUALIFIED AS AN AEROSPACE ENGINEER, CLAUDIA KESSLER HAS WORKED FOR MORE THAN 15 YEARS IN THE SPACE INDUSTRY GAINING CONSIDERABLE EXPERIENCE WITHIN INTERNATIONAL COMPANIES. THROUGH HER INVOLVEMENT IN MANY INTERNATIONAL SPACE PROJECTS SHE HAS BUILT UP A WIDE NETWORK WITHIN THE BUSINESS. FROM THAT BACKGROUND SHE FORMED THE GERMAN OFFICE OF HE SPACE OPERATIONS IN BREMEN IN APRIL 2004 AND HAS SINCE DEVELOPED IT INTO ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT SUPPLIERS OF MANPOWER SUPPORT TO THE SPACE INDUSTRY. CLAUDIA BECAME CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF HE SPACE IN 2008.

ROGER-MAURICE BONNET IS THE PRESIDENT OF COSPAR.
AN ASTEROID CALLED APOPHIS WILL PASS CLOSE TO EARTH ON 13 APRIL 2036. THE ENERGY RELEASED WOULD HAVE THE EQUIVALENT OF BETWEEN 880 AND 1480 MEGATONS OF TNT. (THE 1883 ERUPTION OF KRAKATOA WAS THE EQUIVALENT OF ABOUT 200 MEGATONS.) ON THE POSITIVE SIDE, SCIENTISTS HAVE CALCULATED THAT THERE IS LESS THAN A 0.003% CHANCE OF IT HITTING OUR PLANET.
THE PROBLEM OF NEAR EARTH OBJECTS (NEOS) AND THE LIKELIHOOD OF IMPACTS WITH EARTH HOWEVER IS A PRESSING CONCERN AND ONE THAT EVEN THE UNITED NATIONS MAY DECIDE TO ADDRESS. A GROUP OF FORMER ASTRONAUTS AND COSMONAUTS SAY THAT WORK SHOULD BEGIN ON CONSIDERING A STRATEGY TO PROTECT HUMANKIND FROM APOPHIS AND OTHER ASTEROIDS.
THE ASSOCIATION OF SPACE EXPLORERS (ASE) ARE PLANNING MEETINGS OVER THE NEXT TWO YEARS - TO BE ATTENDED BY DIPLOMATS, ASTRONOMERS, ASTRONAUTS AND ENGINEERS - TO DRAFT AN INTERNATIONAL TREATY TO ADDRESS THE THREAT. ASE HAS OBSERVER STATUS AT THE UNITED NATIONS COMMITTEE ON PEACEFUL USES OF OUTER SPACE (UN-COPUOS) AND THE TREATY WILL BE PRESENTED TO THE UN FOR ADOPTION WITHIN A YEAR.
DR BONNET WILL BE ONE OF THE EXPERTS HELPING TO DRAFT THE TREATY.

DR WEI SUN REPRESENTS OHB-SYSTEM AG, FROM GERMANY WHICH IS A SYSTEMS PROVIDER EMPLOYING MORE THAN 1200 PEOPLE IN THE AREAS OF SPACE SYSTEMS, SECURITY, PAYLOADS, SPACE TRANSPORTATION, AEROSPACE, TELEMATICS AND SATELLITE OPERATIONS. WEI SUN JOINED OHB-SYSTEM FROM SURREY SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY WHERE SHE WAS MARKETING AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR, WINNING THE 2004 WOMEN IN BUSINESS ACHIEVEMENT AWARD.

PAUL COUNET IS HEAD OF STRATEGY AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS FOR THE EUROPEAN ORGANISATION FOR THE EXPLOITATION OF METEOROLOGICAL SATELLITES (EUMETSAT).
EUMETSAT IS THE EUROPEAN OPERATIONAL SATELLITE AGENCY FOR MONITORING WEATHER, CLIMATE AND THE ENVIRONMENT. IT OPERATES A SYSTEM OF METEOROLOGICAL SATELLITES MONITORING THE ATMOSPHERE AND OCEAN AND LAND SURFACES WHICH DELIVER WEATHER AND CLIMATE-RELATED SATELLITE DATA, IMAGES AND PRODUCTS – 24 HOURS A DAY, 365 DAYS A YEAR. EUMETSAT WAS FOUNDED IN 1986.

AGNIESZKA LUKASZCZYK WAS ELECTED AS CO-CHAIR OF THE SPACE GENERATION ADVISORY COUNCIL (SGAC). SHE JOINS FELLOW CHAIR BEN-BASELY WALKER TO LEAD THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL FOR A TERM OF TWO YEARS STARTING IN APRIL 2009.

EILENE GALLOWAY, BORN IN 1906, WORKED WITH THE CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES LIBRARY OF CONGRESS IN 1941, RESEARCHING AND WRITING HOUSE AND SENATE DOCUMENTS INCLUDING "GUIDED MISSILES IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES" IN 1957. ON 29 JULY 1958, PRESIDENT DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER SIGNED THE NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ACT, LEADING TO THE BIRTH OF NASA. GALLOWAY HAD BEEN PIVOTAL IN HELPING TO WRITE THE LEGISLATION, EMPHASIZING INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND PEACEFUL EXPLORATION. SHE LATER SERVED ON NINE NASA ADVISORY COMMITTEES. IN THE 1960S, SHE WAS AMERICA'S REPRESENTATIVE IN DRAFTING TREATIES GOVERNING THE EXPLORATION AND USES OF OUTER SPACE, HELPING LAUNCH THE FIELD OF INTERNATIONAL SPACE LAW. GALLOWAY WORKED FOR SEVERAL DECADES WITH THE UNITED NATIONS COMMITTEE ON THE PEACEFUL USES OF OUTER SPACE (UN-COPUOS) AND WAS ALSO INSTRUMENTAL IN CREATING THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SPACE LAW, WHICH SERVES AS THE FORUM FOR LEGAL SCHOLARS AND OTHERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD IN STUDYING AND DEBATING THE LEGAL ISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH THE EXPLORATION AND UTILISATION OF SPACE.

FRANÇOIS AUQUE IS CEO OF EADS ASTRIUM. NUMBER 1 IN EUROPE AND NUMBER 3 WORLDWIDE, ASTRIUM EMPLOYS 12 000 PEOPLE IN FIVE COUNTRIES: FRANCE, GERMANY, THE UK, SPAIN AND THE NETHERLANDS.
EADS ASTRIUM HAS FOR OVER 40 YEARS BEEN IN THE INDUSTRY AND HAS BEEN VITAL IN MANY PROJECTS SUCH AS ARIANE, THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION, ENVISAT AND MARS EXPRESS.

BERNDT FEUERBACHER BECAME THE PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASTRONAUTICAL FEDERATION IN SEPTEMBER 2008.