The qualifying stage of the All-Russian competition "Star Relay Race," whose main sponsor and partner is the Guild "Frontiers of Science," has concluded. The organizers received 459 applications from schoolchildren across Russia. 150 participants from Tatarstan, Bashkiria, Crimea, Rostov, Moscow, Tambov, Tula regions, Krasnoyarsk and Krasnodar territories, and other regions will come to Korolev and Moscow for the final of the competition, which has been held since 2003.

The competition is held under the auspices of the Cosmonaut Training Center named after Yu.A. Gagarin to involve children in scientific and technical creativity related to space research. The "Star Relay Race" is timed to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the first human spacewalk and is dedicated to the memory of Galina Ermolenko, a teacher and co-author of the competition, after whom the main-belt asteroid 545985 GALINAERMOLENKO (2011 VW10) is named.

In April, at the "Kvantorium" Children's Technopark of the MBUDO "Orbita" in the science city of Korolev, the children will present their works and projects at a face-to-face defense, and the winners will be announced at the Moscow Palace of Pioneers. Participants will defend projects in scientific and technical, astronomical, artistic, literary-journalistic, and medico-biological sections, as well as attend excursions and listen to informative lectures from specialists in the space industry.

The main sponsor and partner of the competition, the Guild "Frontiers of Science," is also responsible for holding the final of the competition, examining project works, and providing prizes for the winners and runners-up. Media and public projects are among the key areas of the Guild's work, which values the popularization of science and technology.

"Involving people in various projects, popularizing science and technology helps create conditions for revealing talents, including very young ones, who in the future will be able to prove themselves in the space industry," notes Ilya Chekh, founder of the Guild "Frontiers of Science." "We invite everyone who shares our ambitions-from volunteers to corporations-to join forces to solve problems that define the scientific and technological landscape not only of Russia, but of the entire world."