International Day of Human Space Flight

The Open-ended working group on the prevention of an arms race in outer space in all its aspects, 6 and 7 February 2025 at the Palais des Nations, United Nations Office at Geneva. Open-ended working group on the prevention of an arms race in outer space in all its aspects Pursuant to General Assembly decision 79/512, the to convene a new open-ended working group for the period 2024- 2028, which will replace the two open-ended working groups established by resolutions 78/20 and 78/238. The General Assembly further decided to task the open-ended working group to submit recommendations on the prevention of an arms race in outer space in all its aspcts, and that its discussions and recommendations will be informed by all the relevant General Assembly resolutions on the prevention of an arms race in outer space, including: (a) Resolution 78/20; and (b) Resolution 78/238. Related Documents:  Learn More Watch 2nd Meeting, Organizational Session - Open-ended Working Group on Reducing Spac...

  Open-ended working group on the prevention of an arms race in outer space in all its aspects. Pursuant to United Nations General Assembly decision 79/512, the to convene a new open-ended working group for the period 2024- 2028, which will replace the two open-ended working groups established by resolutions 78/20 and 78/238. The General Assembly further decided to task the open-ended working group to submit recommendations on the prevention of an arms race in outer space in all its aspects, and that its discussions and recommendations will be informed by all the relevant General Assembly resolutions on the prevention of an arms race in outer space, including: (a) Resolution 78/20; and (b) Resolution 78/238. Related Documents:  Learn More The Open-ended working group on the prevention of an arms race in outer space in all its aspects, 6 and 7 February 2025 at the Palais des Nations, United Nations Office at Geneva.  Watch the  1st Meeting, Organizational Session - Op...

Before launching into space in 1977, the United States space agency, NASA, asked the United Nations to provide materials for a playlist to record an album – the " Golden Record " – to be sent to the stars. In fact, the first words on the vinyl record itself are those of the then- UN Secretary-General , expressing hope for peace and friendship with whoever discovers and plays it. If you visit United Nations Headquarters, a replica of the Golden Record is on display alongside other space oddities, including an actual piece of the Moon . Bill Nye, “The Science Guy” and CEO of the Planetary Society, walks viewers through how to decipher the Golden Record, its significance today and how reverence for the universe can inspire action for our planet. 

In 1977 and 1978, at the request of Grenada, the United N ations General Assembly took up The issue of UFOs . Included on the Assembly’s agenda for its 32nd and 33rd sessions was the item “Establishment of an agency or a department of the United Nations for undertaking, co-ordinating and disseminating the results of research into unidentified flying objects and related phenomena” . While draft resolutions sponsored by Grenada in each session were not pressed to vote and were not adopted, the world body did adopt decisions 32/424 and 33/426. In 1978, the General Assembly decided to invite “interested Member States to take appropriate steps to coordinate on a national level scientific research and investigation into extraterrestrial life , including unidentified flying objects , and to inform the Secretary-General of the observations, research and evaluation of such activities”. Find links to both Assembly decisions here , courtesy of Ask Dag , the service catering to inquiring minds...

Jumping back further, United States astronauts fresh from a Moon walk visited UN Headquarters to much fanfare in August 1969.    United Nations News · CLIP - American astronauts of Apollo 11 visit to the United Nations, in August 1969

  Russia celebrates April 12th as Cosmonautics Day , established under a decree by the USSR Supreme Soviet (the Soviet Union’s national legislature) of April 9, 1962 in honor of the world’s first space flight by a Soviet citizen. The idea of introducing this date to the calendar of the nation’s memorable events was proposed by the Soviet Union’s second cosmonaut to go on a space mission, German Titov. Also, April 12 is the International Day of Human Space Flight (declared by the United Nations General Assembly session on April 7, 2011 in honor of the beginning of humanity’s space era). First crewed space flight On April 12, 1961 Soviet cosmonaut Yury Gagarin became the first human to orbit the Earth. His spacecraft Vostok blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome to travel around the globe once. Gagarin successfully landed in Russia’s Saratov Region. His flight lasted 108 minutes. At the moment of blastoff Gagarin dropped a remark that instantly went down in history: "Off we go...