40th anniversary and exhibition opening. The Satellite Geodetic Observatory (SGO) was organised in 1972, under the leadership of the now 80-years old Iván Almár. We celebrated these two occasions on 3 May. Participants included Iván Almár, former and present staff members of the SGO, the director-general of the host institute FÖMI, Bence Toronyi, and his general deputy, Csaba Zsilvölgyi.

One of the highlights of the event was the opening of a new exhibition where the space- and ground-based geodetic techniques related to the observatory's history are presented. Instruments and computing tools are on display, along with posters describing the technologies, the achievents of the SGO staff, and the construction of  the building near the village Penc. The exhibition is open to the public, visits are possible upon prior arrangement.

The exhibition was formally opened by Iván Almár, with Bence Toronyi (FÖMI director-general) on his left and Ambrus Kenyeres (SGO head) on his right.

Honours. Our former and present colleagues obtained prestigeous awards for their achievements on 15 March 2012. The President of Hungary awarded Dr. József Ádám, full member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, former member of our Observatory's staff, with the Order of Merit of Hungary (Medium Cross, Civilian). Dr. Szabolcs Mihály (former head of the Observatory and former director-general of the Institue) received Order of Merit of Hungary (Knight, Civilian), Dr. Tibor Borza (former head of the Observatory) received Hungarian Silver Cross, and Dr. Ambrus Kenyeres (head of the Observatory) received Ministerial Certificate of Merit from the Hungarian minister of rural development.