Every year, the United Nations and World Space Week Association (WSWA) dedicate one week to the international celebration of science and technology in one of the biggest explorations to date: space. It’s all about increasing awareness surrounding space activity, cultivating international cooperation in space outreach, and most importantly: inspiring future generations.
While you may think that the dates in October (chosen in 1999) are of little significance, you would be wrong. Historically, October 4th marks the launch of the first human-made Earth satellite, Sputnik 1, in 1957. A decade later, on October 10th, the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (we’ll stick to the Magna Carta of Space, shall we?) was signed.
This year’s theme focussed on Space and Sustainability: “achieving sustainability in space and achieving sustainability from space,” according to the UN. A topic of steadily growing concern, sustainability has been at the forefront of many minds recently. Of the 169 targets forming the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, a huge 65 directly benefit through Earth satellite technology. From measuring climate change, to identifying pollution on land and at sea, achieving the SDGs would be incredibly difficult without the tools available to scientists through space exploration today. Support for World Space Week 2022 was shown through a record-breaking 7548 events registered, consisting of education and outreach events held by space agencies, aerospace companies, schools, planetaria, museums, and astronomy clubs all around the world.
Check out how our student celebrated !
References:
https://www.worldspaceweek.org/
https://www.un.org/en/observances/world-space-week
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