STARMUS VI
50 Years on Mars
September 5-10, 2022
Yerevan, Armenia
50 Years on Mars: From Mars 3 and Mariner 9 to Starship
A souvenir sheet with one postage stamp dedicated to the theme Starmus 6th International Festival in Yerevan was put into circulation. The postage stamp of the souvenir sheet with the nominal value of 500 AMD depicts the logotype of “STARMUS VI. 50 years of Mars” International Festival and the right part of the souvenir sheet depicts Mars. There was a special ceremony of naming Yerevan’s N170 High School after world-renowned Armenian engineer Alexander Kemurdzhian. Alexander Kemurdzhian headed the team assigned to develop the chassis for the Lunokhod (Moonwalker) program. His team designed both Lunokhod 1(1970) and Lunokhod 2 (1973). With speakers including the moonwalker from Apollo 16, the ‘father of the iPod’ Tony Fadell, scientists from NASA and SpaceX, Nobel laureates, and world-famous
musicians, the Starmus festival’s organisers hope it will have long-lasting impacts in Armenia. Yerevan´s Freedom square was covered in futuristic pavilions, crowds of visitors have been looking to the stars as the Starmus international science festival took over the city centre. More than 80.000 people joined the City Program of Yerevan. Attendees and organisers alike hope that the impacts of the festival will reach beyond its closing date and drive the development of Armenia’s science and tech scene.
Covering themes of life in the universe, Nobel Prize winning chemist Jack Szostak outlined the origin of life on Earth; Richard Dawkins described evolution and exobiology; astronomer Michel Mayor recalled extrasolar planets including his own first discovery; and Jill Tarter explored extraterrestrial intelligence in the universe.
