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 astronatu, 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. and Luděk Svoboda.
Forty years ago, the first person set his foot on the surface of the Moon. Astronaut Neil Armstrong made the first step on the Moon from Apollo 11’s landing craft designated named the Eagle on July 20, 1969. He summed up this monumental event with his well-known prediction: “That is one small step for [a] man; one giant leap for mankind”. The moon landing is seen as the highest point of U.S. space program motivated by a long-running space race with the former Soviet Union. Twelve years before the Apollo 11 mission, the Soviet Union launched the first satellite into the Earth’s orbit. and Antonín Vítek.