On the 26th of July 2021, Bulgaria will establish an In-Flight Educational Downlinkwith the International Space Station. Students from the entire country and wider Europe will have the unique opportunity to ask questions directly to astronauts from NASA and ESA (their names are yet to be announced). This historic video connection will be the culmination of the one-day event“Hello Space! Bulgaria/EU Calling!”that will be preceded by a question selection competition for students aged from 6 to 19.

More than 30 leading Bulgarian NGOs and STEM/space research stakeholders will partner with the U.S. Embassy in Sofia as the host of this momentous project. In commemoration of its 30th anniversary, the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria will coordinate the initiative.

The downlink and the programme surrounding it will aim to ignite the youth’s imagination, inspiring them to dream big by reaching out to the Moon, Venus, Mars, and beyond, thus ultimately allowing our country to send its third astronaut to space on the basis of expanded U.S.-Bulgarian cooperation in the STEM field.

Registration for the event will open on the 1st of July 2021.

The aforementioned competition will take place between the 21st of June and the 2nd of July 2021. Further information on the conditions and prizes can be foundhere.

As always, we welcome new partners and ideas on the road to the completion of this historic initiative.

Hosts:

The U.S. Embassy in Bulgaria

The Atlantic Club of Bulgaria

Sofia Tech Park

TechnoMagicLand

The American College of Sofia

The Atlantic STEM & Space Downlink Cluster