Mike Bloomfield, a former NASA Space Shuttle Commander, will attend FIDAE 2024, Latin America’s primary airshow, next month. He will represent the U.S. industry and the Astronaut Al Worden Endeavour Scholarship as a goodwill ambassador. The scholarship advocates for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education to create a workforce for future industries.
Bloomfield will be part of the largest international presence at the FIDAE airshow. His message at the event will focus on advancing bilateral cooperation between the United States and Chile as 2023 marks the bicentennial of the official relationship between the two nations. He also aims to create a sense of ownership among young people and encourage them to work towards a better future.
“Every country needs a STEM-educated workforce,” said Bloomfield, a three-time shuttle astronaut (pilot of STS-86 and STS-97, and commander of STS-110). “As world leaders in exploration and discovery, the United States and Chile have a unique opportunity — a responsibility — to excite, inspire, and train our young people to succeed in STEM careers.”
Bloomfield has a busy schedule during FIDAE (April 9-14). The schedule includes introducing Chile’s third group of recipients of the Endeavour scholarship. This scholarship offers a hands-on astronaut training experience at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center’s Space Camp in Huntsville, AL. Bloomfield will also address Colegio de Ingenieros de Chile members, the national engineering trade association. Additionally, Bloomfield will commemorate the 30th anniversary of the USA Partnership Pavilion at the show.
Tom Kallman, President and CEO of Pavilion organizer Kallman Worldwide, announced Bloomfield’s participation at FIDAE. He is also the CEO of the 501(c)(3) Kallman Foundation, which administers the Endeavour program. Kallman made this announcement after returning from last month’s Singapore Airshow, where the United States stood as the largest international presence on-site. At the same event, the scholarship foundation launched its third and fourth Singaporean teams. The foundation also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Indonesia to launch its first Endeavour team at Indo Defence 2024 in Jakarta this November.
The Endeavour Scholarship is named after Worden, the Command Module Pilot of the Apollo 15 spacecraft “Endeavour.” He was a STEM education advocate and served as Kallman’s STEM ambassador at international trade events from 2015 until his passing in 2020. The scholarship honors his lifelong commitment to STEM education.
“The enthusiasm and support for the Endeavour Scholarship around the world is deeply gratifying because it exemplifies the nation-to-nation spirit of partnership that fuels our program,” said Kallman. “Every country we work in — and we’ve worked in at least 50 of them since our company was founded in 1963 — is facing the same challenges to prepare its young people for the future. Many also see that future in space. As an extension of our work advancing global trade in exhibition halls, and with the support of partners in government, industry, the military, and academia, the Endeavour Scholarship connects with worldwide interest in space to promote STEM careers on earth.”
The Endeavour Scholarship program offers a unique opportunity for high school students in trade show host communities to compete for four spots on a “mission” team to Space Camp. Winners are selected by local judges, and a local educator is chosen to lead the crew. The program was announced at the 2019 Paris Airshow and has since provided scholarships to 76 students and 19 educators across nine countries.
The latest members of the program, selected by the leaders of the Colegio de Ingenieros from applications submitted nationwide, are four Chilean students who will be known as “Mission Team #15.” The selected students, Antonia Covacevich, Claudia Andrea Ulloa Henriquez, Catalina Reyes, and Gabriela Urzua, will travel to the United States in July to visit Washington, DC, and attend Space Camp. The team leader will be Rosita Guerra, an Arturo Merino Benitez School faculty member.
The team will be formally introduced and presented with their mission patches and jackets during a ceremony at FIDAE in the USA Partnership Pavilion on April 10 by Kallman, Bloomfield, and college President Hernán De Solminihac.
“We are proud to partner with the Kallman Foundation to select the crew of the Astronaut Al Worden Endeavour Scholarship Mission Team #15 and participate in their introduction at the FIDAE Air Show,” said Solminihac. “From Calama in the north to Punta Arenas in the south and Santiago in between, this team will represent our entire country at Space Camp, and that experience will change their lives.”