Press Releases

For information only - not an official document

UNIS/MA003
Vienna, 19 February 2013

Media Advisory

The media is invited to a press event on:

Following the meteor strike on Russia last Friday the UN's Action Team on Near-Earth objects will discuss its recommendations for an international response to such threats

on

Wednesday 20 February 2013

at 11:00

in Room M0E100 , Vienna International Centre (VIC)

SPEAKERS:

Sergio CAMACHO, Chairman of the Action Team on Near-Earth Objects

Lindley JOHNSON, Near Earth Object Observation Program Executive, Planetary Sciences Division, Science Mission Directorate, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Detlef KOSCHNY, Near Earth Object segment manager, European Space Agency (ESA)

The event will be moderated by

Janos TISOVSZKY, Director, United Nations Information Service (UNIS) Vienna

Last Friday a meteor hit Russia's Chelyabinsk region, injuring hundreds of people and causing millions of dollars worth of damage.  The UN's Action Team on Near-Earth Objects is concerned with coordinating global efforts to deal with the consequences of a Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) impact.  The Action Team was established in 2001 by the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space as part of the recommendations of the Third United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE III) held in Vienna in 1999. The conference recommended improved international coordination of activities related to near-Earth objects.

The Action Team will discuss their recommendations for an international response to the near-Earth object impact threat.

Please register for the event by 20 February 9:00 by writing to: press@unvienna.org

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For more information please contact:

Romana Kofler
United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)

Telephone: (+43-1) 26060-4962
Email: romana.kofler[at]unoosa.org