Named in honor of William Ian Axford, director of the Max-Planck-Institut fur Aeronomie, Lindau, and current president of the Committee on Space Research, on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday. Axford’s seminal contributions in the areas of magnetospheric, heliospheric, cometary and cosmic ray physics and interstellar gas dynamics have greatly enhanced our understanding and stimulated further investigation. While providing strong leadership in promoting space missions, including the highly successful Giotto mission to comet Halley in 1986, he has also been a leading advocate for international cooperation in space. (M 21956) _ _.