UNAWE-Brazil has been very busy. 2011 April 21-23, was the 4th International Meeting of Astronomy and Astronautics. The event had more than 800 participants and was enjoyed by all. The kids were able to meet with four astronauts: Apollo Astronaut Charlie Duke, Russian Cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov, Russian Cosmonaut Oleg Kotov and Brazilian Astronaut Marcos César Pontes. Invited speakers included Dr. Tina Andreolla (radio astronomy) and Dr. José Bezerra Filho (IAE/CTA). Among other prominent guests, and participants from around the world include Dr. Jin Zhu (Beijing Planetarium - China), Rosa Doran (GTTP - Portugal), Mike Simmons (AWB - USA), Babek Tafreshi (TWAN Project - Iran), Manoj Pai (India), Virgiliu Pop (Romania), Enrique Torres (UNAWE and CIDA - Venezuela), Julio Blanco (GTTP - Uruguay), Joan Chamberlin (Southern Gems - Citizen Sky - USA), Michael Uberty (AWB - New York - USA) as well as representatives from Germany and Paraguay. You can find photos and videos from the event here. In result of this meeting, new national and international partnerships have been created.
In Campos dos Goytacazes in Brazil, a new innovative project is being launched - the first School of Astronomy and Astronautics. Through the support of the foundation of the Brazilian Astronaut Marcos Pontes, this after school programme will be free to students from 11 to 18 years old. You can find more information on the school’s homepage (in Portuguese). The students selected to participate will be announced June 22 and activities at the school will begin in August.
Among other events in Brazil, projects with schools to build annalematic sundials have begun and a visit to ESO facilities and observatories in Chile is planned for August 2011. With so many new projects and ideas, be sure to check back for updates and announcements from UNAWE-Brazil!
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