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EXCERPTS FROM REMARKS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY:  ISY MISSION TO PLANET EARTH CONFERENCE; APRIL 29, 1988

Thank you very much, John (McLucas), President Haaland, Professor Curien, Dr. Malone, distinguished guests and ladies and gentlemen:

On behalf of NASA, it's a pleasure to welcome all of you to this most important conference.  This is the first time that senior space agency officials from around the world are meeting to discuss how they might coordinate their activities during the International Space Year or ISY, in 1992. As you know, the ISY will commemorate the 35th anniversary of the International Geophysical Year and the 500th anniversary of Columbus' voyage to the New World.  Thus, it unites the universal themes of exploration, discovery and intellectual inquiry that have powered the human spirit in the past and continue to point to a future of unlimited horizons.

NASA is pleased that President Reagan directed the agency to lead an interagency effort to develop the ISY concept and international support for it. We view this conference as a major step forward in this effort, and are pleased that all of you could participate in the development of a major theme for ISY.

For thirty years, we humans have been opening new horizons in space and pushing back frontiers that limit our goals on this planet. As a spacefaring civilization, we have expanded our understanding of the solar system, the galaxies and the universe.