The American astronaut, Andrew Feustel, who took “Krtek” (the Little Mole), the cartoon character created by the Czech animator Zdeněk Miler, into space with him aboard the Endeavour space shuttle last May, completed a visit to the Czech Republic during which he promoted science and technology among young Czechs. The Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, which invited Feustel to Prague, awarded him the Honorary Medal “De Scientia Et Humanitate Optime Meritis” for propagating science and research. He is the third American astronaut, after John Blaha and Eugene Cernan, to have a Czech connection, his wife Indira’s mother, having been born in Znojmo. This was the second time Feustel took something “Czech” with him into space. On his first mission in May 2009, he brought along a book of poems entitled Cosmic Songs by the Czech writer Jan Neruda.
Photo: Stanislava Kyselová, Academic bulletin
Andrew Feustel and his wife Indira launched their tour in Prague at Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic with the debate on space exploration. Children, who took part in a competition “Do kosmu s krtkem” (Flying to space with the little mole), were the lucky ones and got to shake their hands with the astronaut himself.
Česky
