60 Years and Counting:Congratulations from a

ContemporaryBerndt Feuerbacher

PresidentInternational Astronautical Federation

2011: The year of celebrations

50 years of Human Spaceflight

60 years International Astronautical Federation

60 years Nederlands Vereniging voor Ruimtevaart

1951: The year of foundations

IAF was founded at the occasion of the 2nd IAC in London, 23 Sept. 1951

NVR was founded byProf. Ir. Dr. Johan M.J Kooyon 17 Dec. 1951 as part of Kon. Ned. Ver. voor Luchtvaart

1952: NVR joins IAF

3rd International Astronautical Congress in Stuttgart, 1952

Minutes of the 2nd General Assembly

NVR was accepted as a new IAF member

NVR had already 120 members!

NVR was very active in the IAF

Netherlands hosted the 9th IAC in the University of Amsterdam in 1958.

Aerospace pioneervon Karman speaking to the delegates

NVR was very active in the IAF

1966: the 15th IAC at the RAI Congress Center

NVR was very active in the IAF

The 50th IAC at the RAI Congress Center 1999

when Wubbo Ockels marched in with 450 students

IAF celebrates its 60th anniversary

A commemorative flag has been produced

and flow on Soyuz to ISS

6 months on ISS Expedition 26

back by Shuttle flight 134 (Endeavour)

handed over to China at Le Bourget 2011

up by LM 2F to Tiangong, where it is presently

return in March 2012 with Shenzhou 9

In 60 years, space has advanced impressively

The early pioneers of space have done a remarkable job• Tziolkovski, Oberth, Goddard, von Braun,

…

Human triumphs have been accomplished: • Gagarin, Apollo, ISS, …

Space has become part of our daily life …• Communication, Navigation, Weather,

climate, …

… and culture• Earth, planetary system, universe, …

Space is an important economic factor• Commercial space, service industry,

tourism, plenty of Teflon pans, …

And this is not all…

In the 1960ies, there were two space nations

Today 3 nations have the capability to launch humans

9 space faring nations have the capability to launch

52 nations have payloads in space

Many more nations have recognized the value of space for the benefit of their citizens

Space knowledge has spread over the Globe

Space is in a phase of transition• Cooperation instead of

competition

Launch systems are at a turnover• Space Shuttle has retired• Commercial approach as an

alternative?• New Space Launch System

announced by NASA

New targets are coming into reach

The new challenge: Exploration, the extension of human activity in space

So where do we go from here?

Our action radius is limited

to the vicinity of Earth.

It encompasses• LEO (ISS)• Moon• Lagrange Points (Moon or

Sun)• Near-Earth Asteroids • Venus• Mars

But it is a long and dangerous journey!

The the most fascinating destination for humans is Mars

Humans beyond Moon is not just an extrapolation of present

technologyTechnology progress is required in

propulsionlife support systemsnovel energy and communication concepts

For humans, significant advances are required in

health careradiation exposurepsychological care

Exploration requires cooperation on a global scale

Benefits are technical, economic, and political

international cooperation instead of cold war competitionbetter understanding of nations through peaceful joint efforts (see ISS)

Future exploration requires huge efforts, it is a task for humanity as

a whole

There is plenty to do in the future

The most important tasks include

hand over to the next generation

convince more nations of the benefits of space

expand the vision of space exploration

Like the early space pioneers, you can help to make a vision come true

IAF wishes NVR a happy birthday