NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS SHUTTLE AND MIR ASTRONAUTS/COSMONAUTS TO VISIT HEADQUARTERS

Press Release

NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS SHUTTLE AND MIR ASTRONAUTS/COSMONAUTS TO VISIT HEADQUARTERS

The astronauts/cosmonauts from Canada, Germany, the Russian Federation and the United States who comprised the crews of the second space Shuttle-Mir docking mission, STS-74/Atlantis, will meet with United Nations Secretary- General Boutros Boutros-Ghali in the Trusteeship Council Chamber on 22 April at noon to present him with the United Nations flag and treaty scrolls which they carried with them into space.

As part of the celebrations marking the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations, the Secretary-General spoke to the astronauts/cosmonauts in a live video conference during the space flight, on 17 November 1995. This was accomplished with the help of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States.

To symbolize a new era of cooperation between nations in the realm of outer space, the astronauts/cosmonauts carried the United Nations flag aboard the shuttle along with their national flags. They also had with them commemorative parchment scrolls of the Outer Space Treaty and the Rescue Agreement, marking the first time those treaties had been physically present in the environment they govern. The astronauts/cosmonauts will present the same United Nations flag and treaty scrolls to the Secretary-General in the Trusteeship Council Chamber. A 15-minute video of mission highlights will be screened.

The visiting astronauts STS-74 crew are Col. Kenneth D. Cameron (USMC), Commander; Col. Jerry L. Ross (USAF), Mission Specialist; Lt. Col. William S. McArthur, Jr. (U.S.A.), Mission Specialist; and Maj. Chris A. Hadfield (Canadian Air Force), Mission Specialist.

The visiting cosmonauts from the Mir-29 Crew are Yuri Gidzenko, Commander; Sergei Avdeyev, Flight Engineer; Thomas Reiter, Cosmonaut- Researcher (German/European Space Agency).

They will be accompanied by NASA official Evelyn L. Thames.

There will be a photo opportunity at 12:45 p.m. in the West Foyer with the Secretary-General, the Shuttle and Mir astronauts/cosmonauts and the Permanent Representatives of Canada, Germany, the Russian Federation and the United States. Flags of the participating countries and the United Nations will be in place for the occasion.

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