International Academy of Astronautics
FOREWORD
This fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the International Academy of Astronautics coincides with the fiftieth anniversary of the first human space flight by cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961. The Academy was formed to recognize and recruit the global leaders of the new frontier of Outer Space. The members were chosen for their ability to define, develop and direct space activities: conceptually, scientifically, technologically, fiscally and safely for the benefit of all mankind. Today the Academy has grown to be the proactive proponent of a reasoned and rational international space exploration program leading to the expansion of human travels and exploration throughout the solar system. And it did all of this with the goal of providing in its execution the maximum benefits to the peoples of Earth.
This meeting comes at a most challenging time in the development of an international cooperative and expansive space program. World politics and military actions are reducing the abilities of the United States and Europe to the point where resources and political will are not available for new ventures, much less expanded international cooperation.
But some developing nations in Asia, South America and Africa have begun the process of integrating their economies with the hope of creating the necessary economic environment for a major investment in science and technology, including a space exploration program. This concatenation of events has opened a window of opportunity in which the Academy is in a particularly strategic position to use to further its objectives.
The Academy has been fortunate over the years in adding and retaining members who are the leaders in space activities around the world. Thus it has carried out one of its purposes: to recognize and honor those individuals that have distinguished themselves in some branch of astronautics. To broaden its abilities, the Academy has sought and consummated affiliations with other international scientific bodies and established liaisons with nine national academies of science.
And the Academy has sought effective ways of establishing activities through which its members can contribute to the understanding, creation, and implementation of international programs and of international cooperation in advancing the peaceful uses of outer space. We have placed a great responsibility on our committees for the definition, analysis, critique, and unbiased presentation of the facts so adduced, concerning new and projected scientific initiatives in space, in support of and for the understanding of the authorities who are asked to sponsor these programs. For example: the Apollo program required the concerted efforts of a large part of the United States` best and brightest; it involved a total of 300,000 people and many of the universities and most of the aerospace companies in the nation. And it resulted in a legacy of scientific and technological developments upon which the United States still depends and exploits.
I believe that the rewards that resulted from the Apollo program are clearly perceived by all the nations of the world, and that, given the opportunity, they would embrace a program of lunar and Martian exploration and colonization, in fact, they will demand the right to participate and to share in the scientific and technological developments that inevitably will result.
I believe the greatest service the Academy can fulfill is to define what and how such participation and such an effort can be implemented. It is a challenge that we can, and must, meet.
George E. Mueller
Academician
