Article Posted on : - Nov 12, 2008

Eleanor Roosevelt holds the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Photo © United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

PARIS (BNS): If all goes well as per plans, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights will find a place in the International Space Station, more specifically, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Columbus laboratory.

The Declaration, well protected in space-proof packaging, is tentatively scheduled to reach the ISS following lift-off on board the Space Shuttle from the Kennedy Space Center on November 14. It will be stored on a permanent basis inside ESA’s Columbus multidisciplinary space laboratory.

A copy of the Declaration was handed over to ESA’s Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain by the French foreign ministry last week, a statement from the space agency said.

The UDHR was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris on December 10, 1948.

The Declaration arose directly from the experience of World War II and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled. It consists of 30 articles which have been elaborated in subsequent international treaties, regional human rights instruments, national constitutions and laws.

“The ESA Astronaut Corps welcomes this humanitarian initiative. In recognition of the fact that human beings are at times downtrodden, the Declaration can symbolically find its place ‘above’ all the peoples of the world”, said ESA astronaut Léopold Eyharts, who earlier took part in the launch, docking and start of operations of the Columbus laboratory during his two-month stay at the ISS in spring this year.

The International Space Station hosts a crew of three international astronauts on a permanent basis, living and carrying out research activities. Together with the USA, Russia, Canada and Japan, Europe is a contributing partner in this international endeavour.