IAF to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 1

The year 2007 is the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 1, which took place on October 4, 1957.  2007 is also the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the International Geophysical Year, which provided a very effective mechanism for international scientific collaboration.  This year also marks the 40th anniversary of the Treaty on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

In a joint initiative of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS), the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) invites you to a special event celebrating these anniversaries.  This event is being organized in cooperation with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Culteral Organization (UNESCO), the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), and the International Institute of Space Law (IISL).

The commemoration will feature four distinguished speakers who will reflect on what has been achieved in space over the past fifty years, and who will look ahead to what can be anticipated in the coming fifty years.  The program is attached.

This special event will take place on March 21, 2007 at 5:00 p.m. in the main auditorium of UNESCO at 125 Avenue de Suffren in the 15th Arrondissement of Paris France.  A cocktail will follow the conference.

Please confirm you attendance prior to March 15th  and provide the name of the media you are representing.  This information should be provided to the IAF Secretariat :
-  by telephone:   +33.(0)1.45.67.42.60
-  by fax:  + 33.(0)1.42.73.21.20
-  by e-mail to: secretariat.iaf@iafastro.org  addressed to Rocio Caparros

 
Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Space Age

Programme

Venue: UNESCO, Main Auditorium, 125 avenue de Suffren 75015 Paris
Date: March 21st 2007, from 5:00 pm to 7:30 pm

4:30 pm Guests arrive.

5:00 pm Welcome by UNESCO Director General Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, IAF President James V. Zimmerman and UNCOPUOS Chairman Gérard Brachet.

Short video clip on past space activities, greetings from the International Space Station and message from Arthur C. Clarke.

Keynote Speaker: Prof. Boris Chertok, (Russian Federation), Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences will address the past 50 years of space activities.

Short message from Eilene Galloway, reading of excerpts from the Outer Space Treaty by students and classical music.

Keynote Speaker: Mr Roy Gibson, (United Kingdom), former Director General of the European Space Agency, will look at the past 50 years of space and the history of international space programmes.
 
Intervention of young people: The future of space for the preservation of the world's past, featuring UNESCO's activities to protect World Heritage.

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan, (India), former Chairman of ISRO and current Member of the Indian Parliament, will present the potential for space technology to serve humankind during the coming 50 years.

Short video clip on future space activities followed by a small concert (piano).

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, (United States), Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History, will speak on the potential of space for exploration and inspiration during the next 50 years.

7:30 pm Celebration concludes