The IAF Hall of Fame was created to recognise the activities of those who have made significant contributions to the development of space science and technology. Last year's honorees included Elon Musk, but past honorees have also included the former NASA administrator Charles Bolden, or the Apollo 11 lunar astronauts.
I consider it the greatest honour of my life that the IAF considered me worthy of this recognition," said Iván Almár. The professor, who celebrates his 92nd birthday this weekend, is one of the founders of Hungarian space exploration. For many decades he played a very active role in various national and international space organisations. During his professional career, the astronomer was, among others, the founding director of the Satellite Geodetic Observatory and President of the Hungarian Space Research Council. He was also actively involved in the IAF. He had previously served as Vice President of the international organisation and was Chair of the Local Organising Committee at the 1983 IAF Congress in Budapest.
Iván Almár is an Honorary Member of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) and Honorary Honorary President of the Hungarian Astronautical Society (MANT). During his career, he has published about 150 scientific papers and written or edited 10 books in Hungarian on space exploration and the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI). His outstanding scientific outreach has made his name well-known to generations of Hungarian TV and newspaper viewers.
You can read about the life of Iván Almár in the book Tudomány születik, published by MANT in 2014. A video of the scientific conference held in April 2022 on the occasion of his 90th birthday, recalling the decades of Hungarian space activity, can be viewed here.