Skip to footer

On Sputnik anniversary, World Space Week launches

The 13th annual World Space Week runs from Oct. 4 through Oct. 10 — both key dates in the history of space exploration.

|
NASA
A Soviet technician works on Sputnik 1 before the satellite's Oct. 4, 1957 launch.
  • By SPACE.com Staff

A weeklong international celebration of spaceflight and exploration kicks off today (Oct. 4), with hundreds of events planned in dozens of countries around the world.

The 13th annual World Space Week runs from Oct. 4 through Oct. 10 — both key dates in the history of space exploration. On Oct. 4, 1957, the Soviet Union lofted Sputnik 1, humanity's first-ever artificial satellite. And the Outer Space Treaty, which forms the basis for international space law, came into effect on Oct. 10, 1967.

World Space Week always has a theme, and this year it's "Space for Human Safety and Security." More than 350 events spread across nearly 50 countries will highlight the ways in which humanity's space activities make daily life better for us here on Earth, organizers said.

The events cover a lot of ground, both literally and figuratively. They include an astrophotography exhibition in New Delhi, India, for example, as well as a presentation by NASA astronaut Mike Foreman in Cleveland, Ohio, about NASA's commercial crew program. 

And today, World Space Week will hold a tweetup from the International Astronautical Congress meeting in Naples, Italy. The event, which uses the hashtag #wswtweetup, begins at 12 p.m. EDT (1600 GMT). Apollo moonwalker Buzz Aldrin is slated to speak, as is Planetary Society CEO and former TV "Science Guy" Bill Nye. [Sputnik 1, Earth's First Artificial Satellite (Photos)]

To see if any activities are happening near you over the next seven days, check outhttp://www.worldspaceweek.org/wsw/.

The United Nations established World Space Week in 1999, and the event was first held a year later. The U.N. continues to help organize the annual celebration, according to the World Space Week Association.

World Space Week has five main goals, according to its website: 1) Educate people around the globe about the benefits of spaceflight and exploration; 2) Encourage greater use of space for sustainable economic development; 3) Show that space programs enjoy public support; 4) Get young people excited about science; and 5) Encourage international cooperation in space outreach and education.

Follow SPACE.com on Twitter @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook & Google+.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to On Sputnik anniversary, World Space Week launches
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2012/1004/On-Sputnik-anniversary-World-Space-Week-launches
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe