58th International Astronautical Congress

58th International Astronautical Congress began on 24th of this month in Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC), Hyderabad. About 2000 delegates from 45 countries attended and shared their knowledge. Fifty college students from India were among them. They were selected out of several thousands by competing in contest organised by ISRO.

James V. Zimmerman, president, International Astronautical Federation (IAF), who was here for IAC said that "India has excelled in practical applications of space technology and has been a model to many other countries".

The scientists gathered in IAC stressed the need for a global protocol, as the treat of Near Earth Objects (NEOs) hitting our planet Earth is not-so-distant in the future. A 400 meter asteroid, Apophis, is likely to hit the Earth in 2036. There are many other asteroids creating potential threat to the planet. Thus evolving a global protocol and policy framework for developing technologies useful for deflecting these objects from the earth’s orbit is very much in need in the years to come.