For information only – not an official document
UNIS/MA/291
Vienna, 24 September 2021
Media are invited to attend a photo opportunity of the planting ceremony at the Vienna International Centre for Isaac Newton’s Space Sapling at 11.30 a.m. on Tuesday 28 September 2021
A special apple tree provided to the United Nations Office on Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) to inspire future generations will be planted in the grounds of the Vienna International Centre by the Director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), Simonetta Di Pippo and the United Kingdom Ambassador, Corinne Kitsell.
The sapling, an apple tree, was grown from one of 26 seeds that the British/European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut, Tim Peake, took into space during his ‘Principia’ mission to the International Space Station in 2015. The seeds spent six months in space before returning to Earth and an open competition was held by the National Trust and the UK Space Agency to find a home for each of the trees to inspire future generations.
The tree is a descendant of the 400-year old tree, still growing at Woolsthorpe Manor in the United Kingdom, which inspired Isaac Newton’s theory of gravity. It will be planted in the grounds of the VIC, visible from the UNOOSA space exhibition.
Media representatives will meet in the rotunda of the VIC no later than 11.15 a.m. on 28 September 2021, and then be escorted to the location where the tree will be planted in the grounds of the VIC.
Media accreditation
All media representatives who wish to attend the ceremony need to register for the event by contacting press.vienna@un.org.
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For further information please contact:
Martin Stasko
Communications Officer, UNOOSA
Telephone: (+43 1) 26060-8717
Email: martin.stasko[at]un.org
or
Andrew Peebles
Senior Political Attaché, UK Mission to the UN in Vienna
Telephone: (+43 1) 676 569 4030
Email: andrew.peebles[at]fcdo.gov.uk
