On Sunday 16 October 2022, the inauguration of the first pavilions of the SPARKme Space Academy, created in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Italian Space Agency (ASI), was held at the headquarters of Openet Technologies Spa in via dell’Industria in Matera.
The SPARKme Space Academy represents an evolution of the Accelerator and the Space Academy as it adds the opportunity, for young and old, for students and teachers, for families and for the general public, to be completely immersed and experience SPACE directly. An exciting walk that begins with the “JOURNEY TO THE MOON” and then moves on to the “PLANETARIUM”, the heart of the route, a magical place where you can watch many shows on the mysteries of the Universe, a tool also designed for teaching and disseminating astronomy that reproduces educational and fun shows without age limits. The walk continues to discover the international space station and the view of the earth from space. Then the planet MARS, the place of the RoboMARS the rover that ventures into the hills of Mars! The walk ends with the Movie, the first “Cinesfera” in southern Italy. The Movie allows you to live a truly special experience: the classic cinema hall is transformed into a new digital and highly technological scenario.
At the same time and in satellite connection with 12 international delegations, the opening ceremony of the XXVI edition of the International Astronomy Olympiad was held, a collaboration between the Ministry of Education, the International Remote Astronomical Olympiad, the Italian Astronomical Society and the National Institute of Astrophysics.