Hungary's astronauts to gather at BME

Charles Simonyi, Bertalan Farkas, Tibor Kapu, and Gyula Cserényi will take part in a joint panel discussion on August 28 at BME, organized by the HUNOR Hungarian Astronaut Program and the university itself.

Bertalan Farkas went to space in 1980 aboard the Soyuz-36 spacecraft as the first Hungarian research astronaut. Charles Simonyi, a Hungarian-born American software developer and businessman, visited the International Space Station as a space tourist in 2007 and 2009. (The venue for Thursday's event, the large lecture hall in Building Q at BME, is named after his father, physicist Károly Simonyi) Tibor Kapu was a research astronaut in this year's Ax-4 mission, with Gyula Cserényi, who also completed the full training, being his backup. With the exception of Mr Simonyi, who attended the University of California and Stanford, they were all students of the BME.

The discussion will take place in Building Q (1117 Budapest, Magyar tudósok krt. 2.) at 5 p.m. Due to the expected high level of interest, it will be possible to follow the event on a screen in the neighboring Heller Farkas Hall, as well as on the BME's YouTube channel here.

Rector's Office, Communications Directorate