From: yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: Goldin says Space Agency Forum needed to coordinate world activities [Release 92-143] (Forwarded)
Apparently-To: sci-space-news@ames.arc.nasa.gov
Followup-To: sci.space
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 18:56:29 GMT

Debra J. Rahn
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.                            September 4, 1992
(Phone:  202/358-1639)


RELEASE:  92-143

GOLDIN SAYS SPACE AGENCY FORUM NEEDED TO COORDINATE WORLD ACTIVITIES

	NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin has endorsed the creation of a
Space Agency Forum (SAF) to coordinate activities among the leaders of the
world's space agencies to prevent duplication and overlap.

	"This forum will be a place where space leaders can communicate, and I
strongly endorse its formation," Goldin said."

	"SAF could serve as a place to promote international cooperation.  We
need a way to improve the coordination of activities among the leaders of the
world's space agencies.  In an era of tight budgets, duplication and overlap are
a luxury we cannot afford," Golden said in a speech to the World Space
Congress.

	Hubert Curien, French Minister for Research and Space and Honory
Chairman of the Space Agency Forum on International Space Year (SAFISY)
proposed the creation of SAF as a follow-on to SAFISY.

	This proposal was adopted and a planning group, including the United
States, Japan, Europe, Russia, Canada, Brazil and China, has been formed to
work out details for the operation of the proposed new organization.  The first
SAF meeting will be Feb. 25-26, 1993, in Genoa, Italy.

SAFISY Lists Accomplishments

	Members of SAFISY, which was created in 1988 to coordinate activities
for the International Space Year, listed numerous accomplishments in the
fields of Earth science and technology, space education and applications, and
space science.

	More than 80 delegates from 29 space agencies agreed that SAFISY has
been instrumental in furthering international cooperation and acknowledged
several major accomplishments including:

   o  advancing the current scientific understanding of global environmental
change;

   o  producing new, innovative products for use by the science community;

   o  enhancing existing cooperation and establishing new partnerships
between space organizations, academic and public research organizations;

   o  emphasizing the role of developing countries in space activities;

   o  leveraging the knowledge and technical resources of the space agencies
to a new area of focus:  education and outreach; and

   o  initiating a new and unique process to facilitate international space
cooperation in years to come.

Additional Meeting Results

   o  agreement to endorse the first international festival of "The Arts and
Space," scheduled for Feb. 25-28, 1993, in Cannes, France.

   o  agreement to endorse the development of an ISY-Yearbook by the U.S.
ISY Association.
- end -

	Editors note:  A fact sheet on SAFISY and a selected listing of SAFISY
projects is available by calling the NASA Headquarters newsroom on 202/453-
8400.

NASA FACT SHEET

SPACE AGENCY FORUM INTERNATIONAL SPACE YEAR (SAFISY) ACCOMPLISHMENTS

	The international cooperation that occurred as a result of the SAFISY
activity yielded a number of scientific and remote sensing application training
workshops.  In addition, a number of products were identified at the SAFISY
V Meeting, held Aug. 28-29, 1992, in Washington, D.C.  Some of these
products include:

	GEDEX CD-ROM -- Several projects by the Earth science and space
science panels resulted in new products for use by the science community.
Under the SAFISY Greenhouse Effect Detection Experiment (GEDEX), a
project lead by NASA's Dr. Robert Schiffer, a CD-ROM was created of
atmospheric data sets contributed from the international project participants.
The CD-ROM includes such data sets as surface temperature, upper air
temperature, satellite, and surface radiation.  For more information, contact
Dr. Robert Schiffer, Earth Science and Applications Division, NASA
Headquarters, Washington, D.C. 20546, U.S.A.  Telephone:  202/358-0782.

	Compact Disk of Astronomical Catalogs -- In an effort to make
astronomical catalogs easily accessible to astronomers worldwide, the
COSPAR/SAFISY Compact Disk of Astronomical Catalogs project created a CD-
ROM of the 114 most requested basic catalogs dating back to 1855.  For more
information, contact International Relations, NASA Headquarters,
Washington, D.C.  20546  Telephone:  202/358-1639.

	ISY World Forest Watch Conference Proceedings -- As a result of an
international, SAFISY-sponsored research project and conference held may
27-29, 1992, in Sao Jose Dos Campos, Brazil, a collection of papers and
recommendations for future international forest monitoring by the world's
leading science and forestry management experts is included in this
proceedings produced by the Joint Research Centre of the Commission of the
European Communities.  For more information, contact Dr. Jean-Paul
Malingreau CEC-REC, 21020 Ispra-Varese, Italy.  Telephone:  39-332-789-
830, or Dr. Roberto da Cunha, Instituto Nacional de Pesquias Espaciais, Caixa
Postal 515, Acda.  Dos Astronauts 1758, 12201 Sao Jose Dos Campos - SP,
Brazil.  Telephone:  55-123-41- 8977.

	Geoscope -- This electronic global change encyclopedia will enable
students to explore planet Earth through satellite imagery, to analyze and
interpret environmental changes and to improve their technological
awareness by hands-on use of a personal-computer based, hypermedia
communications tool.  Students will have access to global data, regional data,
socio-economic data, photographs and animations previously only available to
the science community.

	The Canadian Space Agency has led this effort.  NASA, the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASDA and the German Space
Agency are just a few of the many space organizations contributing more than
150 data sets to this project.  For more information, contact the Canadian
Space Agency, External Relations, 500 Rene-Levesque Blvd. West, montreal,
Quebec, Canada H2Z 1Z7.  Fax:  513/496-4220.

	Global Change Video -- A project led jointly by Germany and the United
Kingdom, the global change video provides a new, persuasive medium within
the Global Change Outreach program of ISY and combines a unique
presentation of local, regional and global remote sensing data sets by means of
advanced, automated digital image processing, computer graphics, video
animation and "virtual reality" techniques.  For more information, contact
Peter Mueller, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E6BT,
United Kingdom, telephone:  44-71-380-7227, or Gunter Schreier, DLR,
Oberpfaffenhofen, 8031 Wessling, Germany, telephone:  49-8153-281-375.

	Space Age -- A six-part television series developed by WQED in
Pittsburgh, sponsored by NASA and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences,
will be broadcast internationally during the 1992 ISY.  For more information,
contact Barbara Valentino, NAS, 2101 Constitution Ave., N.W., Room NAS 232,
Washington, D.C., U.S.A. 20418.  Telephone:  202/334-2782.

	Directory of Resources for Earth Observations in Education -- The
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-developed
publication provides a listing of pre-college schools in the United States and
abroad using environmental satellite data in their educational curriculum.  For
more information, contact Doug Brown, NOAA, 1825 Connecticut Ave., N.W.,
Suite 627, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. 20235.  Telephone:  202/606-4381.

	Perspectives for Space -- As part of the SAFISY/COSPAR Panel of
Experts on Space Science, the Perspectives from Space poster set is
intended to generate enthusiasm among school children and the general
public worldwide.  Each of the eight posters illustrate the different space
science disciplines and international cooperation and include information and
suggested classroom activities.  NASA has developed the original poster set
and the SAFISY members will be approached to translate and distribute the
posters globally.  For more information, contact Jeff Bennett, NASA
Headquarters, Washington, D.C., U.S.A., 20546.  Telephone:  202/358-0340.

	University Education in Space Science and Engineering -- The Israel
Space Agency led an international study to solicit opinions on approaches to
improve and expand space science and engineering education.  The results of
this extensive effort is a baseline set of information related to space science
and engineering presented and distributed at the World Space congress.  For
more information, contact Professor David Abir, Faculty Engineering, Tel Aviv
University, Ramat-Aviv, Tel-Aviv 69978, Israel.  Telephone:  972-3-640873.
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