60 Years and Counting: Congratulations from a Contemporary

60 Years and Counting:Congratulations from a

ContemporaryBerndt Feuerbacher

PresidentInternational Astronautical Federation

2011: The year of celebrations

50 years of Human Spaceflight60 years International Astronautical Federation60 years Nederlands Vereniging voor Ruimtevaart

1951: The year of foundations

IAF was founded at the occasion of the 2nd IAC in London, 23 Sept. 1951

NVR was founded byProf. Ir. Dr. Johan M.J Kooyon 17 Dec. 1951 as part of Kon. Ned. Ver. voor Luchtvaart

1952: NVR joins IAF3rd International Astronautical Congress in Stuttgart, 1952Minutes of the 2nd General Assembly

NVR was accepted as a new IAF memberNVR had already 120 members!

NVR was very active in the IAF

Netherlands hosted the 9th IAC in the University of Amsterdam in 1958.Aerospace pioneervon Karman speaking to the delegates

NVR was very active in the IAF

1966: the 15th IAC at the RAI Congress Center

NVR was very active in the IAF The 50th IAC at the

RAI Congress Center 1999

when Wubbo Ockels marched in with 450 students

IAF celebrates its 60th anniversary

A commemorative flag has been producedand flow on

Soyuz to ISS6 months on ISS Expedition 26back by Shuttle flight 134

(Endeavour)handed over to China at Le Bourget

2011up by LM 2F to Tiangong, where it

is presentlyreturn in March 2012 with

Shenzhou 9

In 60 years, space has advanced impressively

The early pioneers of space have done a remarkable job• Tziolkovski, Oberth, Goddard, von Braun,

…Human triumphs have been accomplished: • Gagarin, Apollo, ISS, …

Space has become part of our daily life …• Communication, Navigation, Weather,

climate, …… and culture• Earth, planetary system, universe, …

Space is an important economic factor• Commercial space, service industry,

tourism, plenty of Teflon pans, …

And this is not all…

In the 1960ies, there were two space nations Today 3 nations have the capability to launch humans9 space faring nations have the capability to launch52 nations have payloads in space

Many more nations have recognized the value of space for the benefit of their citizens

Space knowledge has spread over the Globe

Space is in a phase of transition• Cooperation instead of competition

Launch systems are at a turnover• Space Shuttle has retired• Commercial approach as an

alternative?• New Space Launch System

announced by NASANew targets are coming into reachThe new challenge: Exploration, the extension of human activity in space

So where do we go from here?

Our action radius is limited

to the vicinity of Earth.It encompasses• LEO (ISS)• Moon• Lagrange Points (Moon or

Sun)• Near-Earth Asteroids • Venus• Mars

But it is a long and dangerous journey!

The the most fascinating destination for humans is Mars

Humans beyond Moon is not just an extrapolation of present

technologyTechnology progress is required in

propulsionlife support systemsnovel energy and communication conceptsFor humans, significant advances are required inhealth careradiation exposurepsychological care

Exploration requires cooperation on a global scaleBenefits are technical, economic, and political

international cooperation instead of cold war competitionbetter understanding of nations through peaceful joint efforts (see ISS)

Future exploration requires huge efforts, it is a task for humanity as

a whole

There is plenty to do in the future

The most important tasks include

hand over to the next generationconvince more nations of the benefits of spaceexpand the vision of space exploration

Like the early space pioneers, you can help to make a vision come true

IAF wishes NVR a happy birthday