From the General Assembly's first consideration of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) to welcoming astronauts fresh from a walk on the Moon, this #ThrowbackThursday, we looked back at the UN's role in the space age ahead of the International Day of Human Space Flight, marked annually on 12 April.
UN tops NASA's interstellar playlist
Before launching into space in 1977, the United States space agency, NASA, asked the UN to provide materials for a playlist to record an album - the 'Golden Record' - to be sent to the stars. In fact, the first words on the vinyl record itself are those of the then-UN Secretary-General, expressing hope for peace and friendship with whoever discovers and plays it.
If you visit UN Headquarters, a replica of the Golden Record is on display alongside other space oddities, including an actual piece of the Moon.
Bill Nye, "The Science Guy" and CEO of the Planetary Society, walks viewers through how to decipher the Golden Record, its significance today and how reverence for the universe can inspire action for our planet.
Watch the full video here.
Did the General Assembly ever consider UFOs?
In 1977 and 1978, at the request of Grenada, the General Assembly took up the issue of UFOs.
Included on the Assembly's agenda for its 32nd and 33rd sessions was the item "Establishment of an agency or a department of the United Nations for undertaking, co-ordinating and disseminating the results of research into unidentified flying objects and related phenomena".
While draft resolutions sponsored by Grenada in each session were not pressed to vote and were not adopted, the world body did adopt decisions 32/424 and 33/426.
In 1978, the General Assembly decided to invite "interested Member States to take appropriate steps to coordinate on a national level scientific research and investigation into extraterrestrial life, including unidentified flying objects, and to inform the Secretary-General of the observations, research and evaluation of such activities".
Find links to both Assembly decisions here, courtesy of Ask Dag, the service catering to inquiring minds in Chinese, English, French and Spanish, at the UN Dag Hammarskjöld Library.
Fresh from the Moon walk
Jumping back further, United States astronauts fresh from a Moon walk visited UN Headquarters to much fanfare in August 1969.
