Good Morning everyone. Thank you to the children and representatives of Jezero, Jajce and Mrkonjić Grad for the warm welcome. Today in Jezero, along the beautiful Pliva River, I’m delighted to see the youth, inspired by our April Earth Day Celebration, returning to celebrate our future through Jezero’s connection with NASA and the Mars landing site.
I am always excited to be around energetic and driven young people. This is because you are not only energetic, but that you represent our future, and the future of BiH.
As we look forward to our planet’s future as well as space, education in STEM – science, technology, engineering, and math – are critical to prepare you to understand complex information, evaluate scientific evidence, and make important decisions.
I am proud that we help equip STEM classrooms and American Corners around the country that support BiH’s efforts to prepare you for the future economy.
These are dynamic times, with ever-changing technology. We are inter-connected and can solve problems together, more than ever before. And just as Jezero, Jajce, Šipovo and Mrkonjić Grad are working together to protect the beautiful Pliva River, you all will be able to change your country and the world with unified effort.
Unified effort will allow you to reach any goal. This year, we celebrated NASA’s 50th anniversary of the moon landing. Four hundred thousand scientists, engineers, and technicians worked together for eight years to reach the moon.
And next year, the Mars Exploration Program will launch the Mars 2020 rover, that will search for signs of ancient microbial life, and collect samples of Martian rocks and soil. This is the world’s first step to bringing carefully selected samples from Mars to Earth.
The Mars 2020 rover will be landing to a small crater named Jezero, home to a lake on Mars, like this one, that flowed billions of years ago.
I am excited to celebrate your connection to the NASA Mars 2020 mission. I have a letter here from the Director of the Mars Exploration Program, James Watzin, recognizing that Mars’ Jezero crater is named after this community in BiH. A small community, but unlimited possibilities. Mayor Ružičić, please come up to receive this letter.
Thank you all very much.
