Western Bay of Plenty Mayors received a gift from the edge of space thanks to a little toy mascot cow.

EOL managing director Terry Coles presented Mayors' Stuart Crosby and Ross Paterson the items they loaned to EVA the cow for her voyage to the edge of space in April as part of the 'Earth to Sky Calculus” mission at a brief ceremony in Tauranga yesterday afternoon.

Eva school project winners Ella Anderson and Shannara Hill with Mayors Ross Paterson and Stuart Crosby and EOL managing director Terry Coles.

Mayor Crosby's Tauranga City lapel pin and Mayor Paterson's Western Bay District badge adorned Eva's sleeves as she was launched to the stratosphere 120,000 feet above Earth's surface for World Earth Day on April 22.

Terry says Eva arrived back in New Zealand on Thursday thanks to TNT Express Special Services.

'Now that Eva has been safely returned we have been able to hand the pin and badge back to the Mayors so they can display them knowing a little part of the Bay has been to the edge of space.”

Two Tauranga students were also awarded their prizes as the winners of the Eva Space Voyage School Project, run by EOL during the EVA space mission.

'We invited students to compile a project presentation to showcase Eva's journey and World Earth Day as a way to get them involved and aware of the scientific value of the expedition. We were pretty amazed by the calibre of the entries.”

Student's Ella Anderson (in the 10 years and under category) and Shannara Hill (in the 11 years and over category) both walked away with the major prizes of an Android Tablet each for themselves.

As part of the promotion one school was also awarded a grand prize of a $1500 Solar Telescope. The winning school is Selwyn Ridge School.

Terry say whilst Eva's space voyage was a chance for the Earth to Sky Calculus team to gather crucial scientific data from the edge of space it has also been a unique opportunity to gain some global attention for the Bay of Plenty.

'The international coverage has been amazing. We've had a lead story on the Discovery Channel in America, a cover story in Techday online magazine,

'The ‘Cow in Space' video of Eva's journey we posted on You Tube achieved over 36,000 hits within days of being posted on line and there's been regular posts and updates on the spaceweather.com website and the Earth to Sky Calculus Facebook page.

'Add to that the national exposure we've also received in the media and I think it's been a novel way to bring some more exposure to the Bay of Plenty on the world stage.”

The event also resulted in EOL signing a worldwide distribution rights deal with Storyful who are promoting Eva and her story to International media.

Western Bay Mayor Ross Paterson says it's been a great campaign to be involved with.

'It's definitely put us onto the international scene on World Earth Day. Here we are, a small country, having a major role.”

Mayor Stuart Crosby says the Eva Campaign has been an excellent good news campaign for the region.

'It's been great to have positive exposure for Tauranga and the Western Bay rather than some of the negative exposure we have had through natural disasters and it also demonstrates what a local company can achieve and provide in terms of their products and services.”

Read more about Eva's Space Journey