Xref: utzoo sci.astro:11604 sci.space:27554 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!rice!uw-beaver!cornell!rochester!sol!yamauchi From: yamauchi@cs.rochester.edu (Brian Yamauchi) Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.space Subject: Re: International Space Year & Planetaria Message-ID: Date: 9 Feb 91 03:37:07 GMT References: <1991Feb4.133921.19772@wsrcc.com> Sender: news@cs.rochester.edu (Usenet news) Organization: University of Rochester Lines: 33 In-Reply-To: hjh2@pinet.aip.org's message of 4 Feb 91 13:39:21 GMT In article <1991Feb4.133921.19772@wsrcc.com> hjh2@pinet.aip.org (Hans Joachim Haubold) writes: Greetings from the UNITED NATIONS in New York. May be you know that the United Nations endorsed the initiative of international scientific organizations to designate 1992 as INTERNATIONAL SPACE YEAR. Various entities of the United Nations system are now in the process to prepare activities to be undertaken by the UN in 1992. The scope of the UN-ISY 92 activities focuses on three major areas : (i) management of the resources of the Earth and its environment; (ii) long-term education programmes; and (iii) public education. In that respect particular attention will be given to the needs of developing countries. While education in space science is certainly important, I question why in International Space Year there is a "major area" for the environment and not a similar emphasis placed on the human and robotic exploration of space, space development, or the commercial uses of space. While I'm sure other organizations, such as NSS, SEDS, and the Planetary Society will promote these issues, it would be nice to see the UN take the lead in terms of an international commitment to the exploration and development of space. It might signal a turnaround from the days of the notorious UN Moon Treaty (a measure which would have permanently hindered, if not killed, private enterprise in space development, but which was fortunately stopped by the L5 Society). -- _______________________________________________________________________________ Brian Yamauchi University of Rochester yamauchi@cs.rochester.edu Department of Computer Science _______________________________________________________________________________