[en] Some initial experiments on the spectral properties of the room-temperature CO nuclear pumped laser (NPL), and also the results of some parameter optimization experiments are presented. The parameter optimization has resulted in peak laser powers approximately 20 W and laser energies > or approximately equal to 1 mJ, which are greater than those reported thus far for any other room temperature NPL (however, the laser powers and energies of the low-temperature CO NPL are still much higher than those reported here). The spectral properties of the CO laser were studied because they may reveal how energy enters the vibrational level system of the CO molecule, and thus help quantify the amount of vibrational excitation which is occurring