Hellenic Space Agency To Hold First International Space Academy Camp on July 7-14

April 23, 2019 (EIRNS)—Greece is taking its space program very seriously. After being founded in March 2018, the Hellenic Space Agency (HSA) is moving aggressively to make space science a major concern of the country and especially mobilize the participation of young people in this effort, despite its limited resources. It has signed bilateral agreements with several national space agencies, the most important being with NASA. As reported last week, NASA and the HSA will be going to the Moon with an agreement that Greece will provide by 2020 a lander and lunar rover which will be placed on the Moon by the U.S. Moon-Mars program.

Now the HSA has announced it will hold the first Hellenic Space Academy Camp “Loukianos” in Athens on July 7-14, 2019. Loukianos is the Greek name of Lucian of Samosata a 2nd century Hellenic-Assyrian author and satirist who wrote the first detailed account of a trip to the Moon in the Western tradition. The camp, which is taking place at an Athens hotel, will have a full program with top speakers from several national space agencies including NASA. It is open to students, graduate students and space enthusiasts.

According to the HSA announcement, the camp “aims at providing opportunities to discuss issues and share views related to the contribution of the international space community to the citizens, students, economy, development and science.”

“For the first time Heads and Executives of the most outstanding Space Agencies, Prime Space Companies, astronauts and other Space Scientists will share their experience and their vision to young students in such intensive academic program while the audience will actively participate and interact with them.”

This week the U.S. Embassy released the full remarks U.S. Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt made at the “Hellas to the Moon” Forum last week in Athens, which discussed Greece’s participation in the U.S. Moon-Mars program and reported in the briefing. Among his comments, Pyatt said:

“It takes the whole international community to put human beings today into space and to take advantage of the opportunities and to overcome the challenges that deep space presents. This effort to develop a permanent presence on the Moon will open a treasure trove of scientific research and fuel new innovations and create new markets....

“The news of the renewed relationship in space cooperation between the United States and Greece coincides with the 50th anniversary this July of the Apollo 11 mission, which first put a man on the Moon.... But it’s worth remembering that in the famous speech he gave at Rice University to persuade Americans to support the challenge of the Apollo program, President John F. Kennedy made the point that ‘We choose to go to the Moon. We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and to do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that challenge is one that we’re willing to accept, one that we are unwilling to postpone, and one that we intend to win.’

“Of course, the space program that realized Kennedy’s vision took its name from the Greek god of truth, prophesy, and light.

“The Greek people, who have thousands of years’ experience as explorers and seafarers, who have curiosity and ingenuity in their history and in their blood, have accepted this new challenge of our age, and I have no doubt that you will succeed in this endeavor and make both of our countries very proud.”