25-Year overview: Safety and rescue symposia—Have they made a difference?

Abstract

The stepping stones are traced from the birth of the IAA Committee on Space Rescue to the present day, 25 years later. The scope of the symposium was extended, successively, from that of space rescue to safety and rescue, and from crew rescue and spacecraft retrieval following Earth-surface touchdown to worldwide distress and disaster response, with benchmarks made on bringing to fruition satellite-aided search and rescue responding to terrestrial distress (COSPAS/SARSAT) and to space applications for disaster response. In later years, a symposium session addressing space activities' impact on environment was initiated, with a principal focus on man-made space debris. In 1991, a subcommittee on quality and an Ad Hoc Expert Group on space debris were established. Its twenty-fifth-year contributions and influence are evident in the committee's organizational involvement across the IAA/IAF/COSPAR sessions at the 1992 World Space Congress.