4 October 2001
Events - General (None)
Celebrate World Space Week
4th-11th October
by Carol Pinchefsky
by Carol Pinchefsky

On Thursday, World Space Week was launched at the United Nations headquarters in New York. This week-long affair is an international project designed to educate people about space, as well as celebrate learning and the future.

According to the website, World Space Week benefits people around the world because it "encourages greater use of space for sustainable economic development."

Events range from lectures to hands-on projects. For example, participants in England have a chance to build and test a hot air balloon or make a vinegar-powered rocket.

World Space Week is bookended by two space-related anniversaries: October 04, the date of the Sputnik I launch in 1957, and October 10, the date of the adoption of the Outer Space Treaty (known to some as the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies) in 1967.

World Space Week also offers a welcomed chance for people to look optimistically toward tomorrow, particularly in the light of the terrorist attacks of New York and Washington, D.C.

For more information, see the World Space Week website or the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs.
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Carol Pinchefsky 4 October 2001
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