Petr Lala

Czech Republic

1942-2024

Obituary:

Dr. Petr Lala left us forever
Petr Lála with his wife Jana and a figurine of the Mole, a symbolic award for the winner of the Antonín Vitek Award
Author: Jan Myška.

RNDr. Petr Lála, CSc. passed away on September 2, 2024, at the age of 82. He was born on October 12, 1942 in Prague and in 1953, at the age of 11, he became a member of the Czech Astronomical Society and later also a member of the International Astronomical Union.
He studied astronomy at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of Charles University in Prague and began working in the Group for Observations and Dynamics of Artificial Earth Satellites at the Astronomical Institute of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences in Ondřejov, where he joined after graduation.
He contributed significantly to the development of professional activities focused on cosmonautics in Czechoslovakia. His most important works concerned the derivation of the influence of the Earth's albedo on the motion of artificial Earth satellites.

A significant publication activity of Dr. Lala was the regular compilation of annual reviews of world events in cosmonautics, which soon became an indispensable and very reliable source of information on the latest developments in cosmonautics in both the Eastern and Western world blocs.
Together with Antonin Vitek he was the author of the book "Small Encyclopedia of Cosmonautics" (1982), which for the first time comprehensively summarized all the basic concepts and information on rocketry, astrodynamics, history of cosmonautics, space technology, spaceports and launch vehicles. It also provided a complete overview of all artificial Earth satellites, probes and astronauts of the time. The book was supplemented with a number of overview tables and graphs and a wealth of other information providing a comprehensive and complete overview of the development of astronautics.

In 1989, Dr. Petr Lala became Deputy Head of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs in New York. Later, after moving the office to Vienna, he was appointed head of its research and services section.

Petr Lála was a lifelong member of the Czech Astronomical Society, and for many years he was also an officer of the Astronautical Section of the CAS. In 1968-1990 he was a member of the editorial board of the Journal of the Czech Astronomical Society "Kosmické rozhledy". His articles were also published very often in the journal "Aviation + Cosmonautics".
In 1992 he was appointed Honorary Member of the CAS for his merits. In 2022, Petr Lála was awarded the honorary Antonín Vitek Prize for popularization of cosmonautics, which is awarded by our Astronautical Section of CAS. The asteroid (26973) Lala bears his name.