Canadian Astronauts Launch an Out-of-this-World Exhibition: Living in Space

If you want to operate Canadarm2 without flying to the International Space Station, plan a space meal in simulated microgravity and see unique artefacts from Canadian astronauts’ space missions, visit the Canadian Space Agency’s interactive “Living in Space” exhibition at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum.

Today, CSA President Steve MacLean launched the Living in Space exhibition accompanied by former and current astronauts Chris Hadfield, Robert Thirsk, Bjarni Tryggvason, Dave Williams, Julie Payette, Jeremy Hansen and David Saint-Jacques.

“The exhibition allows Canadian youth to experience a day in the life of an astronaut,” said CSA President, Steve MacLean. “The Canadian Space Agency is using the excitement and wonder of living in space to spark an interest in science and technology among our youth.”

The “Living in Space” exhibition provides a unique opportunity for visitors to discover how astronauts work, entertain themselves and tackle basic tasks like eating, sleeping and personal hygiene in a weightless environment. It combines multimedia special effects and astronaut artefacts to create an immersive learning environment where visitors can learn about the challenges of daily life in space and the innovations in science and technology that have been developed for human spaceflight. It features space artefacts from astronaut missions like Robert Thirsk’s sleeping bag, Chris Hadfield’s space guitar and Julie Payette’s flightsuit.

This exhibition is part of the CSA’s national awareness and learning campaign that is reaching out to Canadians in their own communities to raise interest among youth in pursuing studies and careers in the sciences, engineering and technology. The exhibit will be hosted at the Aviation and Space Museum and another will travel to science centers and museums across Canada.

For more information, visit the CSA website at www.asc-csa.gc.ca.
Video, animations and pictures are available at this address: ftp://ftp.asc-csa.gc.ca/users/Medias/pub/20110511_vivre_dans_lespace_living_in_space/