Space Research on wooden clogs

International scientists who came together during the International Geophysical Year [link to other bullet point] recognised the enormous potential of scientific research in space. To coordinate this work outside the realm of political squabbling, they established the Committee on Space Research in 1958. Henk van de Hulst, pictured at the front, became the first president of COSPAR. In the Netherlands, he launched the Geophysics and Space Research Committee. This led to the establishment of three Dutch laboratories. Furthermore, the committee played a leading role in the founding of the European Space Research Organisation, which later became the European Spage Agency. The committee also played a key part in the decision to locate the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in the Netherlands.

• The COSPAR symposium in Washington in 1962, chaired by Henk van de Hulst (credit: unknown).
• Van de Hulst gave the Russian cosmonaut Titov and the American astronaut Glenn a wooden clogs each of a wooden clogs pair. ‘Carved from wood from the same tree, meant to be worn together.’ (credit: unknown)