To commemorate the 50th anniversary of NASA’s Apollo 11, the first manned mission to land on the Moon, the U.S. Embassy in Madrid sought out eight Spanish students passionate about STEM subjects and space exploration to attend the NASA Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. This one-week camp at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center provides students the opportunity to learn about space and flight history, to complete simulated space missions, and understand the skillset of a NASA astronaut. More than 800 students applied for this once-in-a-lifetime experience by creating a one-minute YouTube video and an essay in English on the importance of the Apollo 11 mission and space exploration. On August 2, the eight winners traveled from their homes in Vera (Almería), Ripoll (Girona), Madrid, Pinto (Madrid), Betera (Valencia), Burgos, Puerto del Rosario (Fuerteventura), and Santpedor (Barcelona) to the U.S. Embassy in Madrid for a pre-departure briefing. To mark the occasion, the Embassy team created a highlight video of the eight winners’ application videos. The students arrived safely in the United States on August 3 and started Space Camp, along with students from the United States and 150 countries, on August 5.
