By IANS
Hyderabad : Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams will be the star speaker at an international astronautical congress that begins here Monday to focus on the growing use of space technology to improve the quality of life.
Over 2,000 space scientists, heads of leading space agencies and astronauts will attend the five-day 58th International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2007) which has as it theme ‘Touching humanity: Space for improving quality of life’. It will be held at Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC) near Hitec City.
Sunita Williams, who spent a record 195 days at the International Space Station (ISS), will deliver two lectures on the technical aspects of ISS and her personal experiences in space. First Indian astronaut Rakesh Sharma will be among the key speakers at the meet, which will touch upon the entire gamut of space exploration, space tourism and business opportunities.
Being organised by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) in association with the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) and the International Institute of Space Law (IISL), the event is hosted by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Astronautical Society of India (ASI).
Delegates from 45 countries including heads of space agencies, NASA scientists, policy makers, regulators, global industry professionals from aerospace and allied industries will participate.
Former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam will deliver a special lecture and participate in an interactive session with 1,200 students at the event, which is being held in India after a gap of 19 years.
Chairman of the organising committee and director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre B.N. Suresh told newspersons here Thursday night that Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Prithviraj Chavan would inaugurate the congress.
“This is a major event and we are very proud that we are hosting the IAC this year in India, when this happens to be the 50th year of space age marking the launch of the first artificial satellite,” said Suresh.
There would be 125 technical sessions, four highlight lectures and seven plenary events. As many as 1,250 papers would be presented.
‘History of 50 years of space: a global perspective’ would be one of the important sessions as 2007 marks the golden jubilee year of the launch of the first artificial satellite — the Sputnik-1. It also happens to be the 50th and 40th anniversaries of the International Geophysical Year and the Outer Space Treaty.
IAF president and leading scientist of NASA James Zimmerman said holding of the congress in India at this juncture would provide an opportunity to see and appreciate the achievements of the Indian space programme.
“For the first time since 1988 when we had held our congress in Bangalore, we will have a chance to learn firsthand what is happening and what the plans are. We are very excited about the Indian space programme,” he said.
Representatives of 200 global aerospace industries, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Great Wall Industries Corporation of China will participate in an international space exhibition, to be organised along with IAC-2007.
“The exhibition would provide platform for forging business-to-business and business-to-customer partnerships,” said K.R. Sridhara Murthy, executive director of Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of ISRO.
ISRO also proposes to hold bilateral meets with representatives of space agencies during the congress.