No Arabic abstract
The United Nations Programme on Space Applications, implemented by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, promotes the benefits of space-based solutions for sustainable economic and social development. The Programme assists Member States of the United Nations to establish indigenous capacities for the use of space technology and its applications. In the past the Programme has primarily been focusing on the use of space applications and on basic space science activities. However, in recent years there has been a strong interest in a growing number of space-using countries to build space technology capacities, for example, the ability to develop and operate small satellites. In reaction to this development, the United Nations in cooperation with the International Academy of Astronautics has been organizing annual workshops on small satellites in the service of developing countries. Space technology related issues have also been addressed as part of various other activities of the Programme on Space Applications. Building on these experiences, the Office for Outer Space Affairs is now considering the launch of a new initiative, preliminarily titled the United Nations Basic Space Technology Initiative (UNBSTI), to promote basic space technology development. The initiative would be implemented in the framework of the Programme on Space Applications and its aim would be to help building sustainable capacities for basic space technology education and development, thereby advancing the operational use of space technology and its applications.
This paper contains an overview and summary on the achievements of the United Nations basic space science initiative in terms of donated and provided planetariums, astronomical telescopes, and space weather instruments, particularly operating in developing nations. This scientific equipment has been made available to respective host countries, particularly developing nations, through the series of twenty basic space science workshops, organized through the United Nations Programme on Space Applications since 1991. Organized by the United Nations, the European Space Agency (ESA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States of America, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the basic space science workshops were organized as a series of workshops that focused on basic space science (1991-2004), the International Heliophysical Year 2007 (2005-2009), and the International Space Weather Initiative (2010-2012) proposed by the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space on the basis of discussions of its Scientific and Technical Subcommittee, as reflected in the reports of the Subcommittee.
In 2010, the Human Space Technology Initiative (HSTI) was launched by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) within the United Nations Programme on Space Applications. The Initiative aims at promoting international cooperation in human spaceflight and space exploration-related activities, creating awareness among countries on the benefits of utilizing human space technology and its applications, and building capacity in microgravity education and research. HSTI has conducted a series of outreach activities and expert meetings bringing together participants from around the world. HSTI will also be implementing science and educational activities in relevant areas to raise the capacities, particularly in developing countries, in pursuit of the development goals of the United Nations, thus contributing to promoting the peaceful uses of outer space.
The almost universal availability of electronic connectivity, portable devices, and the web is bringing about a major revolution: information of all kinds is rapidly becoming accessible to everyone, transforming social, economic and cultural life practically everywhere in the world. Internet technologies represent an unprecedented and extraordinary two-way channel of communication between producers and users of data. Open Universe is an initiative proposed to the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) and currently in implementation under the leadership of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UN-OOSA). Its primary objective is to stimulate a dramatic increase in the availability and usability of space science data, extending the potential of scientific discovery to new participants in all parts of the world. This paper describes the initiative in general, some of the activities carried out to demonstrate its feasibility, and its use in the context of the BRICS Astronomy Programme.
The proposed mission Space Atomic Gravity Explorer (SAGE) has the scientific objective to investigate gravitational waves, dark matter, and other fundamental aspects of gravity as well as the connection between gravitational physics and quantum physics using new quantum sensors, namely, optical atomic clocks and atom interferometers based on ultracold strontium atoms.
Atom interferometry represents a quantum leap in the technology for the ultra-precise monitoring of accelerations and rotations and, therefore, for all the science that relies on the latter quantities. These sensors evolved from a new kind of optics based on matter-waves rather than light-waves and might result in an advancement of the fundamental detection limits by several orders of magnitude. Matter-wave optics is still a young, but rapidly progressing science. The Space Atom Interferometer project (SAI), funded by the European Space Agency, in a multi-pronged approach aims to investigate both experimentally and theoretically the various aspects of placing atom interferometers in space: the equipment needs, the realistically expected performance limits and potential scientific applications in a micro-gravity environment considering all aspects of quantum, relativistic and metrological sciences. A drop-tower compatible prototype of a single-axis atom interferometry accelerometer is under construction. At the same time the team is studying new schemes, e.g. based on degenerate quantum gases as source for the interferometer. A drop-tower compatible atom interferometry acceleration sensor prototype has been designed, and the manufacturing of its subsystems has been started. A compact modular laser system for cooling and trapping rubidium atoms has been assembled. A compact Raman laser module, featuring outstandingly low phase noise, has been realized. Possible schemes to implement coherent atomic sources in the atom interferometer have been experimentally demonstrated.