News Mails - 2015

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ASIA-PACIFIC REGIONAL SPACE AGENCY FORUM (APRSAF)
News Mail No. 125 Feb/2/2015
http://www.aprsaf.org/
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- * CONTENTS

• 1. News on APRSAF: Interviews at APRSAF-21
• 2. News on APRSAF: Poster Contest Calendar 2015 available
• 3. News on APRSAF: Questionnaire closed
• 4. Event Calendar
• 5. Mr. Kiran Kumar appointed as head of DoS, SC, and ISRO
• 6. Korea to develop next-generation earth observation satellites
• 7. CSSTEAP opens for applicants for the Post Graduate Course in Remote Sensing and GIS
• 8. SUPARCO's contribution to the countermeasures against the 2014 Pakistan Floods

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* 1. News on APRSAF: Interviews at APRSAF-21
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Two interviews with APRSAF-21 participants have been posted on the APRSAF Website. To read the articles, please visit the URLs below.

- On ISS and beyond, with Mr. Mhd Fairos Asillam, Head, Space Science Research Unit, Malaysia Space Center, National Space Agency of Malaysia (ANGKASA), Malaysia (SEUWG) http://www.aprsaf.org/interviews_features/interviews_2015/interviews01.php
- On space education activities, with Mr. Agus Hidayat, Director, Cooperation and Public Relations Bureau, National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN), Indonesia (SEWG) http://www.aprsaf.org/interviews_features/interviews_2015/interviews02.php

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* 2. News on APRSAF: Poster Contest Calendar 2015 available
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The APRSAF Space Education Working Group (SEWG) published the Poster Contest Calendar for 2015 to encourage the use of space materials and thus enhance the science education of young people. Through this calendar, SEWG aims to stimulate the intellectual curiosity and passion of young people through their involvement in space activities.

The drawings and paintings presented in the calendar were selected from entries submitted by children aged 8 to 11 years for the Ninth APRSAF Poster Contest, held under the theme "Space is the Future." The artworks were displayed during APRSAF-21, held in Japan in December 2014.

You are welcome to produce copies of the calendar and distribute them to parties who may be interested in them. The theme of the APRSAF-22 Poster Contest will be "Careers in Space."

http://www.aprsaf.org/working_groups/sea/

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* 3. News on APRSAF: Questionnaire closed
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The online questionnaire on APRSAF has been closed. The APRSAF Secretariat is deeply grateful for all the support it has received. The data from the questionnaire will be used for the further improvement of APRSAF.

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* 4. Event Calendar
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- Global Space & Technology Convention (GSTC) 2015
(11-13 Feb 2015, Singapore)
http://www.gstcsingapore.com/

- IAA-IISL International Conference on Climate Change and Space-Based Disaster Management
(26-28 Feb 2015, Trivandrum, India)
http://www.iislweb.org/docs/kovalam.pdf

- Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR)
(14-18 Mar 2015, Sendai, Japan)
http://www.wcdrr.org/home

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* 5. Mr. Kiran Kumar appointed as head of DoS, SC, and ISRO
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The Indian Appointments Committee of the Cabinet announced that Mr. A.S. Kiran Kumar, Distinguished Scientist (Apex) and Director, Space Applications Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), has taken the offices of secretary of the Department of Space, chairman of the Space Commission, and chairman of ISRO. A member of ISRO since 1975, Mr. Kiran Kumar has been involved in the satellite payload and applications domains.

- References
ISRO Press Release
http://www.isro.gov.in/update/14-jan-2015/s-kiran-kumar-takes-over-secretary-department-of-space-chairman-space-commission
Press Information Bureau, Government of India
http://pibmumbai.gov.in/scripts/detail.asp?releaseId=E2015PR95

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* 6. Korea to develop next-generation earth observation satellites
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On December 28, 2014, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) announced that it has created a draft for the first phase of its next-generation medium-scale satellite development plan. The plan aims to develop a 500 kg class next-generation satellite bass and two high-resolution earth observation satellites. Development will begin in March 2015, and the first and second satellites are scheduled to be launched in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

Reference:
- MSIP News (No. 2678) (in Korean)
http://www.msip.go.kr/web/msipContents/contents.do?mId=NzE=

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* 7. CSSTEAP opens for applicants for the Post Graduate Course in Remote Sensing and GIS
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The Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in Asia and the Pacific (CSSTEAP), an affiliate of the United Nations, is accepting applications for its 20th Post Graduate Course in Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems, which will be conducted at the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), ISRO, in Dehradun, India, from July 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016. For further information, please visit the following links:

- For the course brochure, please refer to http://www.un-spider.org/sites/default/files/20RS-GISBrochure.pdf
- CSSTEAP website
http://www.cssteap.org/
- UN-SPIDER Knowledge Portal
http://www.un-spider.org/news-and-events/news/cssteap-20th-post-graduate-course-remote-sensing-and-gis

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* 8. SUPARCO's contribution to the countermeasures against the 2014 Pakistan Floods
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Heavy monsoon rains and floods in Azad Kashmir in September 2014 caused serious damage to Pakistan. A report on the countermeasures undertaken by the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) to mitigate the disaster is now available on the UN-SPIDER Knowledge Portal. SUPARCO provided several types of imagery-derived products to the National and Provincial Disaster Management Authorities, including cumulative flood extent maps imaged on a daily basis and rapid damage assessment for inundated infrastructure, inundated agricultural areas, and embankments.

Reference:
- UN-SPIDER Knowledge Portal
http://www.un-spider.org/news-and-events/news/suparco-satellite-based-monitoring-pakistan-floods-2014

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Copyright 2015 The APRSAF Secretariat

APRSAF News Mails are distributed to update the readers on
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APRSAF Secretariat
c/o Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
ochanomizu sola city, 4-6 Kandasurugadai, Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo 101-8008 Japan
Tel: +81-50-3362-5880 / Fax: +81-3-5209-3208
E-mail: secretariataprsaf.org
Web: http://www.aprsaf.org
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