Outer Space Committee: environmental monitoring, UNISPACE III discussed.Use of space technology for protecting the Earth and space environment, particularly environmental monitoring for sustainable development Sustainable development is a socio-ecological process characterized by the fulfilment of human needs while maintaining the quality of the natural environment indefinitely. The linkage between environment and development was globally recognized in 1980, when the International Union to follow up recommendations of the June 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development, was highlighted by the Commitee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, as it held its thirty-sixth session (7-18 June, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of ). Wider use of such technology, it was agreed, could be significantly promoted through the UN Programme on Space Applications, and the Committee asked its Scientific and Technical Subcommittee to examine how to expand cooperation in that area. Developing countries emphasized the need for greater efforts to enable them to use space technology for economic and social development, and suggested that a third UN Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE UNISPACE United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space III) would be a suitable forum to address those issues. India offered to host the event. More attention should be given to the problem of space debris Space debris or orbital debris, also called space junk and space waste, are the objects in orbit around Earth created by humans, that no longer serve any useful purpose. and the risk of their collisions with spacecraft, the Committee stressed. it noted with satisfaction the 1992 adoption by the General Assembly of a set of principles relevant to the use of nuclear power sources in outer space. In keeping with the Assembly's recognition that new applications of nuclear power sources would be emerging, the Committee began a review of the principles. Member States were invited to report on the safety of nuclear-powered satellites and on the danger of their collisions with space debris. Committee Chairman Peter Hohenfellner of Austria said that 30 years after the launching of the first geostationary Aligned with the earth. Refers to satellites (GEOs) that travel at the same rotational speed as the earth (they are geosynchronous) and are always the same distance from the earth. See GEO. communications satellite communications satellite artificial satellite that functions as part of a global radio-communications network. Echo 1, the first communications satellite, launched in 1960, was an instrumented inflatable sphere that passively reflected radio signals back to , space technology had become indispensable to international communications. A recent example was the use of satellites to transmit medical data and images of injured in·jure tr.v. in·jured, in·jur·ing, in·jures 1. To cause physical harm to; hurt. 2. To cause damage to; impair. 3. Somalis to specialists in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. as part of the UN operation in Somalia. The UN had also used the satellite system in its peace-keeping duties in Cambodia and the former Yugoslavia. Space applications had been used to locate missing people such as fishermen, and satellite navigation had improved air traffic control. Since the international Space Year in 1992, there had been increased international cooperation in space. This year - 1993 - was the thirtieth anniversary of the first space flight by a woman; of the 292 persons who had orbited the earth, 22 were women. It was reported that regional centres for space science and technology education in developing countries were being established. The international Space information Service continued its work. New editions of the publications, Space Activities of the United Nations and International Organizations and Directory of information Systems on Space Science and Technology, were available, and an updated Directory of Education, Training, Research, and Fellowship Opportunities in Space Science, and Technology and its Applications was in the works. In considering the report of its Scientific and Technical Subcommittee (16-26 February New York), the Committee noted the inadequacy of funding for the UN Programme on Space Applications. The Committee agreed that spin-offs of space technology were yielding benefits in such areas as robotics robotics, science and technology of general purpose, programmable machine systems. Contrary to the popular fiction image of robots as ambulatory machines of human appearance capable of performing almost any task, most robotic systems are anchored to fixed positions , communications, image and data interpretation, microelectronics, chemicals and the application of lasers in medicine. It also agreed that spin-offs might be enhanced through international cooperation to address developing countries' social and economic needs. Some members called for the development of procedures by the UN to disseminate dis·sem·i·nate v. dis·sem·i·nat·ed, dis·sem·i·nat·ing, dis·sem·i·nates v.tr. 1. To scatter widely, as in sowing seed. 2. the benefits of spin-offs. The Committee recommended that the Programme on Space Applications include the subject in its training schemes. Member States were invited to report on spin-off The situation that arises when a parent corporation organizes a subsidiary corporation, to which it transfers a portion of its assets in exchange for all of the subsidiary's capital stock, which is subsequently transferred to the parent corporation's shareholders. benefits. Legal Subcommittee In its report (A/AC.105/544), the Legal Subcommittee (22 March-8 April, New York) said any future revision of substantive provisions of the principles relevant to the use of nuclear power sources in outer space should be based on developments which might occur in the scientific and technical fields. Discussions on definition and delimitation of outer space, and the geostationary orbit geostationary orbit A circular orbit positioned approximately 35,900 km (22,258 mi) above Earth's equator and having a period of the same duration and direction as the rotation of the Earth. - the only orbit which permits continuous contact between a satellite and a single ground station - were continued. Colombia submitted a paper on the subject. A working paper was also presented by Brazil, on behalf of 10 developing countries, dealing with "principles regarding international cooperation in the exploration and utilization of outer space for peaceful purposes". The Office for Outer Space Affairs will move to Vienna before the end of 1993, it was announced. |
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