A United Nations flag is to be flown to the International Space Station in April before returning to earth to be displayed at a space exhibition in Vienna, the UN's Office for Outer Space Affairs said Thursday.
The office said the blue and white emblem would be ferried to the orbiting space station by South Korean astronaut Ko San who is to conduct scientific experiments there for eight days in April.
On its return to Earth, the flag is to be presented to UN boss Ban Ki-moon before being taken to Vienna later this year to be prominently displayed at the space exhibition at the International Center in the Austrian capital.
The tradition of astronauts taking the UN flag to outer space began during the earliest manned space missions. The flag has orbited the Earth, flown aboard space stations and reached the moon.
