LAUNCHPAD FOR THE 21ST CENTURY:
Yearbook of the International Space Year
A
Special Supplement to Advances in the Astronautical Sciences
by Harvey Meyerson
and Danelle K. Simonelli
1995, 412 pages,
ISBN 0-87703-393-5
(Hard Cover) $70.00
ISBN 0-87703-394-3 (Soft Cover) $50.00
(AAS, AIAA, BIS,
DGLR, NSS, SSI, USSF, Planetary Society members receive a 50% discount
off the above list prices)
Foreword
International Space Year (ISY) was the first yearlong worldwide celebration of the Space Age. ISY was highlighted by globally coordinated space research activities in 1992 and coordinated planning for space programs extending into the 21st century. There were also public activities throughout the world, ranging from curriculum materials and student projects to films, books, television series, conferences, and museum exhibits.
The concept of an International Space Year was first suggested in 1985 by U.S. Senator Spark Matsunaga. He proposed that the ISY be held in 1992 to commemorate two historic events: the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ voyage to the New World, with its themes of exploration and discovery, and the 35th anniversary of the International Geophysical Year (IGY), with its themes of scientific inquiry and global cooperation. It was the IGY that ushered in the Space Age, in 1957-58, with the launching of the first artificial satellites.
The “ISY idea” was based upon the notion that space is not just a place, but also an age with a new global perspective-a perspective that can be exemplified in the first photograph taken by Apollo astronauts of the whole Earth suspended in space. That single, potent image started a revolution in humanity’s views of itself and its world, so that we now see a more holistic “spaceship Earth.” Scientific research has, in turn, made use of automated spacecraft to study that interactive global system, and technologies such as communications satellites have brought the world’s citizens closer together in a very practical way.
The perspective of the Space Age-and of the ISY-is also transgenerational. The cosmic time scales of the universe bring home the fact that many fundamental human activities-from the study of our own planet to the search for other planetary systems-must adopt a long-term approach if they are to succeed.
A central focus of the ISY was Mission to Planet Earth (MTPE), which saw scientists worldwide using space technologies to assess such threats to the Earth’s environment as global warming, deforestation, and ozone depletion. MTPE also included training programs for developing nations, as well as educational projects and public events, that sought to carry the ISY’s global perspective to students and the general public. There were also numerous ISY programs in the space sciences.
Many of these ISY activities were coordinated by the Space Agency Forum on International Space Year (SAFISY), an unprecedented global entity whose membership included 29 national space agencies and 10 affiliated international organizations, such as the United Nations and the International Council of Scientific Unions. The ISY also relied on a process that might be termed “management by inspiration,” whereby SAFISY space agencies and regional ISY associations encouraged the development of hundreds of additional ISY activities by individual schools, museums, professional associations, and other public and private organizations around the world. The results of that process fill this yearbook.
Harvey Meyerson, President, U.S. International Space Year Association
Danelle
K. Simonelli, Information Director, U.S. International Space Year Association
Contents
Page
Foreword v
Preface ix
Chapter 1. The ISY Idea 1
Chapter 2. Origins of the ISY 7
Chapter 3. Space Agency Leadership 21
Chapter 4. Public Activities 33
Chapter 5. Global Data Policies and Programs 49
Chapter 6. Mission to Planet Earth 73
GEOSCOPE: A Model ISY Project 75
Global
Change Research 77
Global Change Education 91
ISY Training: Space for Human
Development 110
Chapter 7. International Cooperation in Space Science 125
World Astronomy
Days: A Model ISY Project 127
Mission to the Universe: Astrophysics 129
Charting
the Invisible: Space Physics 135
Machines and Living Things in Space: Microgravity
and Life Sciences 143
Exploring Our Solar System: Planetary Science 147
Toward
Other Planetary Systems: The Great Integrating Goal 155
Chapter 8. Coming Together: ISY Conferences 161
Chapter 9. Bringing Space into the Classroom 173
Chapter 10. Communicating the Space Age to the Public 191
Chapter 11. Celebrating the ISY 203
Chapter 12. After the ISY: Continuing Activities 219
Chapter 13. The ISY Legacy 235
Appendices 243
Appendix 1. Capsule Descriptions of ISY Activities 245
Appendix 2. Senator Matsunaga’s Speech Proposing the ISY 363
Appendix 3. SAFISY Members and Affiliates 365
Appendix 4. SAFISY Terms of Reference 367
Appendix 5. United Nations Endorsement of the ISY 371
Appendix 6. Scientific Spacecraft Operating During ISY 1992 373
Appendix 7. SAF Terms of Reference 381
Appendix 8. CEOS Members, Observers, and Affiliates 385
Appendix 9. CEOS Terms of Reference 387
Appendix 10. IGBP Objectives and Participation 393
Appendix 11. IACG Terms of Reference (including membership) 397