21 November 2006: Academician Vladimir E. Fortov, Honorary Member of Eucass, receives the insignas of Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur from the hands of Claudie Haigneré, also Eucass Honorary Member.

Vladimir Fortov and Claudie Haigneré, shortly after ceremony

The ceremony took place on November 21, 2006 at Cnes headquarters in Paris, in the presence of Jean-Jacques Dordain, General Director of Esa, Yannick d'Escatha, President of Cnes and Denis Maugars, President of Onera.

A major actor in plasma and space physics specialised in extreme temperature and pressure states of matter, Vladimir is academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS). He now heads the Division of Energetics, Machinary, Mechanics and Control Systems of RAS.

From 1993 till 1997 he was appointed organiser of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR), the new scientific administration for support of science and technology in Russia, of which he was the First Chairman. From 1996 till 1998 he was a Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, Chairman of the State Committee for Science and Technology, Minister of Science and Technology of Russian Federation. Since, he has devoted much of his energy to developing international scientific cooperation, particularly with France, Germany, USA and other countries.
If one is to mention but his recent work in space research, we note that he and his Institute participated in the International Russian, French, German, Hungarian Space project VEGA, an investigation of the Halley comet. He is also associated with the International project on the hypervelocity impacts of Shoemaker-Levy 9 Comet against Jupiter and the Deep Impact Space Mission. He also led work on "dusty plasmas". Plasma crystals (an ordered state of dust grains in a low pressure discharge) were studied under microgravity conditions on the "Mir" space station and now on the International Space Station. The experiments aboard Mir were accomplished for him and his Institute IHED by French Astronaut Claudie Haigneré with support from the crew of the Space Station.

Vladimir has received many distinctions and prizes. He is a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Culture, the International Academy of Astronautics, the Max Plank Society, among others. Finally, he was co-chairman of the first EUCASS conference in Moscow, together with French Academician Jacques Blamont and Prof. V. Dmitriev, Director General of TsAGI.

Vladimir Fortov, Claudie Haigneré, Tatiana Fortova and Jean-Pierre Taran, Eucass Secretary