September 17, 2007

Córdova to speak at national conference on future of space exploration

France A. Córdova
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Córdova is an invited speaker during a Sept. 20 session on the future of space exploration at the event, called 50 Years in Space: Aerospace Conference Celebrating 50 Years of Space Technology. The conference, at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, will reflect on how far the U.S. space program has come in the last 50 years and where it is going.

"I feel privileged to speak at this event that celebrates our accomplishments in space and looks ahead to the future," said Córdova, who, in 1993, became the first woman and youngest person to hold the position of NASA chief scientist. "We have come a long way over the last 50 years, and the future is rich with new opportunities."

Nobel Prize Laureate John Mather, astronaut "Jack" Schmitt and NASA administrator Michael Griffin will present an international look at the past, present and future of space flight. Other speakers include international aerospace leaders from industry, government and academia.

Córdova will speak about the next 50 years in space and the need to prepare a new generation to "reach for the stars." She says a compelling national vision is needed and new, innovative partnerships among universities and industries are required to inspire a new generation to pursue science, technology, engineering and math.

The session during which she will speak will be chaired by Tom Romesser, vice president of Northrop Grumman Space Technology. Other speakers during the session include Ronald Sega, undersecretary for the U.S. Air Force; Masato Nakamura, project manager for Project-C Satellite at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science; and Ares Rosakis, the Theodore von Karman Professor of Aeronautics and Mechanical Engineering and Graduate Aeronautical Laboratories director at the California Institute of Technology, who is co-organizer of the conference.

A publication featuring significant events in the history of the space program will accompany the aerospace conference, and aerospace displays and spacecraft models also will be on exhibit.

"The event will highlight the historical moments of the last 50 years, such as the first trip to the moon, the first shuttle launch, the first person to be on the international space station, and so on," Córdova said. "Purdue has represented itself well in the history of space flight, so I am proud to go as a representative for this university, as well as a former chief scientist for NASA."

To date, 22 Purdue alumni have been chosen for space flight, including Neil A. Armstrong, the first to step foot on the moon, and Eugene A. Cernan, the last to do so. Purdue and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have had more alumni chosen for space flight than any other non-military institution.

Córdova, who earned a doctoral degree in physics from the California Institute of Technology in 1979, spent the following decade at Los Alamos National Laboratory as a member of the Space Astronomy and Astrophysics Group. She then joined Penn State University to head the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics. In 1993 she began work at NASA, serving as the primary scientific adviser to the NASA administrator and the principal interface between NASA headquarters and the broader scientific community.

She has published more than 150 scientific papers and reports and is a co-investigator on a current experiment flying on the European Space Agency's X-Ray Multi-Mirror Mission.

She is the winner of NASA's highest honor, the Distinguished Service Medal, and was recognized as a 2000 Kilby Laureate for "contributions to society through science, technology, innovation, invention and education."

The California Institute of Technology, its Graduate Aeronautical Laboratories and Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Northrop Grumman are the event's hosts.

Writer: Jim Bush, (765) 494-2077, jsbush@purdue.edu

Source: France A. Córdova, (765) 494-9708, president@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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