 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Vienna (AFP) Sept 28, 2010 The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs on Tuesday dismissed as "nonsense" a newspaper report which said it had appointed a new ambassador as a point of contact for extra-terrestrials. "The article in the Sunday Times is nonsense," UNOOSA said in a statement, referring to a report this weekend which said the UN was to appoint Malaysian astrophysicist, Mazlan Othman, to be the first contact for any aliens. Othman heads UNOOSA, a little-known department of the UN based in Vienna with a staff of 27. Under a mandate defined by the UN General Assembly, UNOOSA's task is to promote international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space and strengthen the use of space science and technology applications. "There are no plans to change the current mandate," the statement said. According to the Sunday Times article, Othman was set to describe her potential new role as chief alien ambassador next week at a scientific conference at the Royal Society's Kavli conference centre in Buckinghamshire, England. But UNOOSA also rejected this. Othman would use the conference to "raise awareness" about topics such as space debris, asteroids, "as well as the annual World Space Week celebrations from October 4-10." In an interview with AFP a year ago, Othman had joked that the UN Secretary General would be the one to "represent mankind ... if we do make contact with aliens."
Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Life Beyond Earth Lands Beyond Beyond - extra solar planets - news and science
UN denies naming 'ambassador' to aliensUnited Nations, N.Y. (UPI) Sep 27, 2010 The United Nations is set to appoint the world's first ambassador to greet any aliens trying to contact Earth, authorities said. Malaysian astrophysicist Mazlan Othman, 58, would be responsible for co-coordinating humanity's response if and when extraterrestrials make contact, Britain Daily Telegraph reported Sunday. Othman will discuss the details of her proposed new role at a R ... read more |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook
