The International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety (IAASS) is pleased to announce the opening of the Calls for Nominations of its 2021 IAASS Awards:

Jerome Lederer
Space Safety Pioneer Award

The award is named in honor of Jerome Lederer who was an Americanaviation-safety pioneer and first director of safety for all of NASA followingthe Apollo 1 ground testing accident. The award consists of a solid silverhandmade statuette reproducing an ancient masterpiece the “WingedVictory”, or Nike (Greek for “victory”) of Samothrace, standing on anhemisphere representing the surface of Mars. The nominee has beenworking, for a large part of his career, full time in space safetyor in a closely related engineering and/or operational fields.The Jerome Lederer Space Safety Pioneer Award is assigned to anindividual who has made outstanding contributions in the fieldof space safety, has shown outstanding support and dedication tospace safety, and achieved national and/or international recognition.

Vladimir Syromiatnikov
Safety-by-Design Award

Named in honor of Vladimir Syromiatnikov, the Russian designer of oneof the most successful piece of space hardware, the docking system APAS.The APAS was first used in the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project of 1975, and laterin more than 200 dockings of Soviet/Russian, on the Shuttle, and on theInternational Space Station. The current global standard, the InternationalDocking System Standard (IDSS), is built on the heritage of the VladimirSyromniatnikov APAS system. The nominee is an individual who isor has been working, for a large part of his career, full time inthe design of space systems and/or in design safety certification.He has shown outstanding support and dedication to spacesafety and achieved national and/or international recognition.The “Vladimir Syromiatnikov Safety by Design Award” takes theform of a solid bronze statuette representing Athena wielding a silver shield. In the Greekmythology Athena is the goddess of wisdom, science, courage, inspiration, civilization,strength, strategy, justice, skills and shipbuilding. Athena was the embodiment of prudent andintelligent tactics. Athena is the goddess of heroic endeavor. The shield of Athena, called Aegis,represents in this award the safety knowledge.

Joseph P. Loftus
Space Sustainability Award

Named after Joseph (Joe) P. Loftus who was the earlyproponent of orbital debris research. Loftus wasamong the first to alert NASA officials to the dangerto spacecraft and satellites posed by increasing amountsof spent rocket bodies, fragments from spacecraft andother debris from space operations. His efforts led, in 1979,to the first official funding for orbital debris research at NASA.The Joseph Loftus Space Sustainability Award is assigned to an individualwhich has made outstanding contributions in the field of space sustainability. The awardconsists of a bronze plaque reproducing in bas-relief a pocket watch with hands on the 11thhour. It symbolize the fast approaching deadline to prevent the Kessler Syndrome, a scenarioin which the density of space debris in low Earth orbit (LEO) is high enough that collisionsbetween objects could cause a cascade – each collision generating space debris which increasesthe likelihood of further collisions, such that . The distribution of debris in orbit could thenrender space missions the use of satellites unfeasible for many generations.

Leonardo da Vinci
Life-long Achievements Award

The Leonardo da Vinci Life-long achievements award recognizesand individual whole life-long work has significantly contributedto the advancement of space safety and to the mission goals andcore values of IAASS. The award is named after Leonardo daVinci, the renaissance genius of science, engineering, and art. Theaward consists of a bronze plaque reproducing in bas-relief the“Vitruvian Man”. A circle, a square and an emblematic figureof a man in the middle. The IAASS has selected the VitruvianMan to recognize those special engineers and scientists whichthrough their lifelong dedication to study, knowledge andresearch have made of scientific inquiry an art centered on thehuman being.

The winner will be presented the awards at the IAASS Conference Gala Dinner, which is the culmination of the 11th IAASS International Space safety Conference, Osaka (Japan),19-21 October 2021. More information about the IAASS Awards, awards criteria, and detailed nomination procedure and forms are available at: http://iaass.space-safety.org/awards/

Nomination material should be sent before 30 April 2021 18:00 CET to the IAASS Secretariatby email at: iaass.secretariat21@gmail.com. We look forward to receiving your nominations!

IAASS-2021 AWARDS ANNOUNCEMENTDownload