yamauchi@cs.rochester.edu (Brian Yamauchi) (02/09/91)
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
_______________________________________________________________________________