starmus festival artemis ii astronauts canaries

Starmus Festival to host Artemis II crew in Canary Islands

Compiled with the help of artificial intelligence, based on Spanish-language information. Source below the article.

Artemis II astronauts head to Starmus

The new edition of the Starmus Festival – The Search for Truth, taking place in October in Tenerife and La Palma, will feature three of the four crew members from the Artemis II space mission, the historic spaceflight that took place last April. Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen will travel to Tenerife and La Palma, where they will share their experiences as protagonists of a mission that marked humanity’s return to the vicinity of the Moon for the first time since the Apollo programme, according to details released by the festival organisation this Tuesday.

For the organisers, their presence also establishes a historic link with Starmus’s origins: fifteen years after pioneers of the space age such as Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Alexei Leonov took part in the festival’s first edition, STARMUS now welcomes the protagonists of the new era of lunar exploration.

Two more space legends confirmed

In addition to the Artemis II crew, the festival will receive two other major figures from crewed spaceflight: Chris Hadfield, astronaut, former commander of the International Space Station and one of the world’s most influential communicators on space exploration; and Julie Payette, former Governor General of Canada and an astronaut with two Space Shuttle missions to her name.

Victor Glover, pilot of Artemis II, said in the organisation’s statement that they are absolutely delighted to take part in this year’s STARMUS gathering, as they are eager to talk about what the mission meant. Meanwhile, astrophysicist Garik Israelian, co-founder and director of Starmus, highlighted the enormous symbolism of the visit, given that, in his view, Artemis II has opened the next chapter of human exploration. “They create an extraordinary bridge between the history of crewed spaceflight and its future,” he said.

Brian May, co-founder of the event, also recalled in the statement that the Apollo pioneers played a key role in building Starmus’s founding principles, based on the conviction that exploration has the power to change the way we see ourselves and our planet.

A decade of the Stephen Hawking Medal

Alongside the arrival of the astronauts, Starmus VIII will mark another fundamental milestone in its history with the celebration of ten years of the Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication. Created in 2016 by Stephen Hawking and Starmus, this distinction recognises figures who have succeeded in transforming the public’s understanding of science and humanity’s place in the Universe. Over its first decade, the medal has honoured communicators, scientists and artists of the calibre of Jane Goodall, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Sir David Attenborough, Hans Zimmer and Christopher Nolan.

Opening concert with Bocelli, Brightman and May

On Saturday 17 October, the day Starmus VIII begins, the grand tribute to this tenth anniversary will take place during a spectacular opening concert in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. This ceremony, blending science and music, will be headlined by internationally renowned performances from Andrea Bocelli, Sarah Brightman and Brian May.

The full programme of festival activities, which will unfold across various venues on the islands of Tenerife and La Palma until its closing ceremony on Thursday 22 October, will be revealed in the coming days, the organisation said.

A world-class science festival

Starmus VIII is supported by the Government of the Canary Islands, the Cabildo of Tenerife, the Cabildo of La Palma and SODEPAL, together with its international partners and sponsors. The Starmus Festival was founded by astrophysicist Garik Israelian and musician, astrophysicist and Queen guitarist Brian May, and has become one of the most prestigious science festivals in the world, having welcomed more than 40 Nobel laureates, Apollo programme astronauts, cosmonauts, scientists and explorers, among others.

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