Simonetta Di Pippo, outgoing Director of the UNOOSA, receives the Grand Decoration in Gold for Merits for the Republic of Austria, and the “Token of Appreciation” of the Austrian Space Forum (OeWF)

Professor Simonetta Di Pippo, who headed the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) from 2014 to 2022, relinquished her position in summer of 2022.

During her tenure the Office and the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS), which is being coordinated by UNOOSA, had to cope with serious challenges. The number of member countries approximately doubled; working groups dedicated to the defense of planet Earth from asteroids were formed; there was an exponential increase in the number of satellites; and the COVID pandemic forced a change of the conference format, from personal to virtual and finally to hybrid. Prof. Di Pippo and her staff implemented the necessary measures with great skill and dedication.

This was the reason why the President of Austria, Prof. Dr. Alexander von der Bellen, awarded Prof. Dr. Simonetta Di Pippo the Grand Decoration in Gold for Merits.

The award ceremony was held in the office of the Permanent Mission of Austria at the UN in Vienna, located in the Andromeda Tower near the Vienna International Center. Ambassador Dr. Gabriele Sellner conveyed the award to Prof. Di Pippo. Witnessing the ceremony were representatives from the Austrian Foreign Ministry, from the Ministry for Climate Protection, from the UN and from the Universities of Graz and Vienna, as well as the Austrian Space Forum. As Prof. Di Pippo had received an equivalent award from Italy there also were representatives of the Italian Embassy.

During the tenure of Prof. Di Pippo, the Austrian Space Forum performed several Mars-analog missions. We used the forum, which was available to us through COPUOS to establish contacts with potential host countries, in which we were planning to conduct our simulations.

In January-February 2018 the OeWF conducted AMADEE-18. At the same time the conference of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of COPUOS was meeting at the UN in Vienna. The idea came up to try a direct connection between our mission in the Omani desert and the conference room in Vienna.

Prof. Di Pippo supported this project and authorized the required resources. After a somewhat less than successful dress rehearsal the connection worked flawlessly. The members of UNOOSA and the technical staff of the UN computer support did a perfect job. The presentation was witnessed by about 150 delegates of many countries. We received extremely positive feedback. Of course, this was a considerable success for the Austrian Space Forum and provided international visibility for our work. It was also considered a success for Oman, for the UN, and for Austria.

For this reason, the OeWF wanted to convey special thanks to Prof. Di Pippo. We decided to use a procedure, which is also being used by organizations like NASA and ESA: an ornate document, conveying our appreciation.

After coordination with ambassador Sellner we received the authorization to present the award as part of the official ceremony.

“Token of Appreciation”, awarded to Prof. Dr. Simonetta Di Pippo by the Austrian Space Forum on 6 Oct 2022, presented by Dr. R. Albrecht.

Prof. Di Pippo was pleasantly surprised to receive the award, which she had not known about. She explicitly conveyed her thanks to the Austrian Space Forum.

“Token of Appreciation”, awarded to Prof. Dr. Simonetta Di Pippo by the Austrian Space Forum on 6 Oct 2022, presented by Dr. R. Albrecht.

Dieser Artikel ist auch verfügbar auf: German