Waterloo, Ontario, April 27, 2010 – Chris Hadfield, the first Canadian astronaut to ever perform a spacewalk, will be at the University of Waterloo for the Graduate Students Research Conference later today. He will give a keynote presentation on space exploration and what it is really like to live and work in space. Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Hadfield has flown twice in space and is the only Canadian to have visited both the Russian Space Station Mir (1995) and the International Space Station (2001).
Taking a plunge for space exploration
He will also speak about his current training including an underwater mission that uses the ocean floor to simulate exploration missions to the surface of asteroids, Moon and Mars. This May, Chris Hadfield will be taking part in NASA’s undersea mission as commander of the crew of NEEMO 14.The crew will live aboard an underwater habitat called Aquarius venturing from it on simulated spacewalks, operating a robotic arm and manoeuvring the vehicles much like would be done when setting up a habitat on another planet. He is also part of a Canadian underwater science expedition (Pavillion Lake, BC), learning how to search for life in extreme environments.
Journalists are invited to the presentation.
What:
Graduate Students Research Conference University of Waterloo
Time: 4:30 pm EDT
Location:
University of Waterloo
Davis Centre
Waterloo, Ontario
Contact: Martha Bailey
Phone: 519-888-4567, ext. 35411
www.grad.uwaterloo.ca/conference/
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For more information:
Canadian Space Agency
Media Relations Office
Tel.: 450-926-4370
www.asc-csa.gc.ca
