Astronautical Congress starts in S. Korea

DAEJEON, South Korea, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- The 60th International Astronautical Congress opened Monday in Daejeon, South Korea, with about 3,000 space experts from more than 70 nations attending.

The meeting, organized this year by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute and the International Astronautical Federation, involves space agencies, scientific institutes, aerospace associations, students and businesses involved in space activities, the European Space Agency said.

Officials said the event, which ends Friday, is designed to provide opportunities for networking and business interaction in space, science and technology.

Among the chiefs of space agencies attending are Charles Bolden of NASA, Jean-Jacques Dordian of the European Space Agency, Joo-Jin Lee of Korea, Steve MacLean of Canada, G. Madhavan Nair of India, Anatoly Perminov of Russia and Keiji Tachikawa of Japan.

The complete agenda for the event is available at http://www.iafastro.org/iac.