NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS CELEBRATION OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IN SPACE ABOARD SHUTTLE-MIR

Press Release

NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS CELEBRATION OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IN SPACE ABOARD SHUTTLE-MIR

SPACECRAFT TO MARK FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF UNITED NATIONS

Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, will, for the first time, hold an interactive video-conference with the combined crew of the second Shuttle-Mir Docking mission, STS-74/Atlantis on Friday 17 November at 0721 hours EST (New York time). The crew, comprising representatives from Canada, the Russian Federation, the United States and the European Space Agency (Germany), is the largest international crew to date.

The approximately 10-minute-long live video conference will originate from the United Nations television studios in New York. At the time of the video- conference, it is planned that the astronauts/cosmonauts will be located in the Core Module of the Mir space station. The Secretary-General will address the crews in English with two-way Russian interpretation available.

In the course of their conversation, the Secretary-General is expected to congratulate the crews and their respective nations on this mission at a time when the United Nations is marking its fiftieth anniversary, at the dawning of a new era of cooperation between nations in the realm of outer space. As a symbol of that cooperation, United Nations emblems, including the United Nations flag, as well as a commemorative parchment scroll of the Outer Space Treaty and the Rescue Agreement will be flown aboard. This will be the first occasion when those treaties will be physically in the environment that they govern.

Live feeds of the event, as well as video and audio tapes will be available. For further information, please contact UNTV, at (212) 963-7650 for live feeds and video tapes; International Broadcasting Centre (IBC), (212) 963- 7656 for audio feeds; Audio library, (212) 963-9272/4186 for audio tapes.

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