Three Australian researchers, including a Fellow of the Academy, have received international recognition for their contributions to astronomy and space science at the awards ceremony of the .
Dr Ken McCracken AO FAA FTSE received the for 鈥渙utstanding contributions to space science鈥�. Dr McCracken, elected a Fellow of the Academy in 1987, has been a leading light in space science for over 60 years, working across cosmic ray and heliospheric research, X-ray astronomy, interplanetary archeology and mineral exploration.
include developing instruments to measure flow characteristics of the solar cosmic radiation (which was central to the formulation of radiation protection procedures in manned space flight) and innovations in time domain electromagnetic methods for exploration geophysics. He currently studies cosmic ray traces in polar ice cores to help interpret the history of the sun鈥檚 magnetic field over the past 150,000 years.
As part of the award, Minor Planet (8258) McCracken has been named in his honour.
Dr Alex Held, , received the for 鈥渙utstanding contributions to the development of space research in which a leadership role is of particular importance.鈥�
Dr Held is the first winner of this award from the southern hemisphere. Among his other distinguished work in steering national and international science policy, Dr Held led the award-winning delivery of the Sentinel Hotspots program (2002鈥�2006), which is in Australia. He is currently overseeing the establishment of the new radar satellite NovaSAR-1 as a national research facility.
Minor Planet (8479) Held .
Dr Daniel Graham, , received the , a joint award of COSPAR and the Russian Academy of Sciences, from . This award is conferred on young scientists for excellence and achievements, and one medal is awarded from each of the COSPAR Scientific Commissions.
After completing his PhD at the University of Sydney in 2012, Dr Graham has worked with IRF in Uppsala looking at the magnetosphere, where earth鈥檚 magnetic field meets the solar wind. Recently, he has begun working with the .
COSPAR hosts a Scientific Assembly every two years, gathering almost three thousand participating space researchers.
COSPAR鈥檚 objectives are to promote on an international level scientific research in space, with emphasis on the exchange of results, information and opinions, and to provide a forum, open to all scientists, for the discussion of problems that may affect scientific space research.
The full citations of all the winners can be found .
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