{"id":375891,"date":"2026-04-12T12:41:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T12:41:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/375891\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T12:41:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T12:41:07","slug":"new-era-for-space-dawns-as-artemis-astronauts-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/375891\/","title":{"rendered":"New Era For Space Dawns As Artemis Astronauts Return"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sunday, 12 April 2026, 9:59 pm
Press Release: UN News<\/a><\/p>\n

The historic mission, which set a record during its lunar
\nflyby for how far humans have ventured into space, was a
\nsignificant step towards a return to the Moon’s surface for
\nthe first time since 1972 \u2013 as well as laying the
\nfoundation for future space exploration.<\/p>\n

The UN\u2019s
\nadvocate for space, internationally acclaimed physicist,
\nauthor and broadcaster Professor
\nBrian Cox told the UN: \u201cIt\u2019s not just about
\nexploration anymore, it\u2019s about making everybody\u2019s life
\nbetter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Life-enhancing<\/p>\n

The Artemis
\nprogramme aims to establish a sustainable human presence on
\nthe Moon, explore the lunar South Pole, and test
\ntechnologies for future crewed missions to Mars.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs
\nwe move out into space, the thing to remember is that we are
\nnot escaping the planet, and the planet is not becoming less
\nimportant…we are doing it to enhance our lives on this
\nplanet,\u201d Prof. Cox said, emphasising that Earth is the
\nbest planet in the universe for us because it\u2019s where we
\nevolved.<\/p>\n

As the United Nations marks this historic
\nmilestone on the International
\nDay of Human Space Flight, the UN\u2019s Champion for
\nSpace, Professor Brian Cox, wants to show the world that
\n\u201cspace is no longer science fiction,\u201d but rather an
\n\u201cimportant part of all our lives and our
\neconomy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Space boosting life on Earth<\/p>\n

Advertisement – scroll to continue reading<\/p>\n

Space
\ntechnology has the potential to address some of the biggest
\nchallenges facing our planet; these include climate change,
\ndisaster management and sustainable
\ndevelopment.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore and more of the things we take
\nfor granted here on Earth are becoming part of the
\nspace-based economy,\u201d Prof. Cox
\nhighlighted.<\/p>\n

Satellite imagery gives us a clearer view
\nof the challenges we face on Earth, such as monitoring crop
\nyields, managing water resources, and tracking deforestation
\nin real time.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, satellite connectivity can
\nbridge the data divide by supporting e-learning for isolated
\nschools or enabling telemedicine in remote
\nareas.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just about exploration anymore;
\nit\u2019s about making everybody\u2019s life better,\u201d he
\ncontinued.<\/p>\n

Space for all<\/p>\n

The Champion for
\nSpace wants to share his passion for space with the world,
\nreminding us that space \u2018belongs to
\neveryone.\u2019<\/p>\n

Prof. Cox shines a spotlight on the role
\nof the UN beyond the stratosphere as a convenor, a gateway
\nto space, and a capacity-builder for nations to peacefully
\nexplore and use space.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpace brings people together
\nbecause there are no borders there,\u201d he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n

UNOOSA, the UN body for
\npromoting international cooperation in outer space, provides
\na platform for consensus-building among Member States,
\nincluding over potentially thorny issues, such as lunar
\ncooperation, space traffic, space resources, and planetary
\ndefence.<\/p>\n

Space savvy<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has always been
\nan idealism to space, but it\u2019s not a na\u00efve
\nidealism,\u201d Prof. Cox emphasises.<\/p>\n

He recalls in
\nparticular the 1975 Apollo\u2013Soyuz Mission, a major moment
\nof scientific and political cooperation between the United
\nStates and the Soviet Union, and the first time a spacecraft
\nof two nations docked together in orbit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was
\nunthinkable that the United States and the Soviet Union, as
\nit then was, would collaborate to dock in space, and develop
\ntechnologies for collaboration that we are still using
\ntoday,\u201d he said<\/p>\n

A UN flag was among the items
\nexchanged between the astronauts to recognise all
\nhumankind\u2019s achievements in space.<\/p>\n

Shared
\nbenefits<\/p>\n

\u201cEnsuring everybody can contribute and
\nbenefit ultimately makes our voyage outwards into space
\neasier,\u201d says Prof. Cox. \u201cIt will happen more rapidly if
\neverybody is collaborating together, and by nature it will
\nbenefit everybody. It\u2019s a new frontier.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recently,
\nUNOOSA along with its partners have helped countries
\nincluding Kenya, Mauritius, Moldova and Guatemala deploy
\ntheir first satellites, and<\/p>\n

as more countries join the
\nspace community, it has assisted emerging space nations in
\ndrafting national space laws that align with international
\nobligations.<\/p>\n

Threat of space junk<\/p>\n

Space is
\nvast, but it is becoming increasingly crowded. In 2025, over
\n4,500 new satellites were launched, by contrast in 2015, it
\nwas just over 200.<\/p>\n

Many space objects fragment and
\ncreate new junk, with estimates suggesting there are as many
\nas 130 million pieces of debris in Earths orbit.<\/p>\n

Even
\nvery small pieces less than one centimetre in size can cause
\ncatastrophic damage, threatening to lock us into a “Kessler
\nSyndrome” where collisions create more debris, leading to a
\ncascade of further collisions.<\/p>\n

As we develop more
\ninfrastructure in space, and come to rely on it more on
\nEarth, \u201cthis becomes more and more of a serious
\nproblem,\u201d Cox warns.<\/p>\n

A UN flag on
\nMars?<\/p>\n

Whilst recognising the practical ways that
\nspace can enhance our daily lives, Cox does not want to
\n\u201ctake the romance away from space\u201d.<\/p>\n

The physicist
\nadded that the discovery he would most like to see in his
\nlifetime would be \u201canother living world.\u201d<\/p>\n

He is
\n\u201csure there is life out there somewhere,\u201d adding: \u201cI
\nwould not be surprised if there were microbes on many of the
\nmoons in the solar system, and possibly also on Mars. I
\nwould, however, be surprised if there\u2019s any complex life
\nin the solar system, very surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to
\nanother Moon landing, he hopes that one day, humans will set
\nfoot on Mars, an opportunity to emphasise that space belongs
\nto all humankind.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that when we plant a flag
\non the surface of Mars, it will be a United Nations
\nflag.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\u00a9 Scoop Media<\/a>
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\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sunday, 12 April 2026, 9:59 pmPress Release: UN News The historic mission, which set a record during its…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35750,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[196085,374,174762,3323,111,24636,139,69,39761,147,11112,11348,145,196084],"class_list":{"0":"post-375891","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-humanitarianism","9":"tag-innovation","10":"tag-international-law","11":"tag-nasa","12":"tag-new-zealand","13":"tag-newsworthy","14":"tag-newzealand","15":"tag-nz","16":"tag-sci-tech","17":"tag-science","18":"tag-scoop","19":"tag-space-travel","20":"tag-technology","21":"tag-un-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375891\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}