CALGARY ASTRONAUT DR. ROBERT THIRSK MAKES CONTACT WITH DAVID THOMPSON STUDENTS FROM SPACE

Most students cringe at the thought of staying after school, but ten Sky Science students at David Thompson School have a good reason to be excited about staying late.

On Friday, October 30th they will have the opportunity to ask questions of and chat with Astronaut Dr. Robert Thirsk from the International Space Station (ISS) in outer space. Dr. Thirsk has been living on the ISS since May 2009. This is his second trip into space and he is the first Canadian to participate in a long-term space mission.

The students who will get the opportunity to talk to Dr. Thirsk will have the ultimate International Year of Astronomy 'Galileo Moment'.  If you had told Galileo, when he was using his telescope to prove the Earth went around the Sun, that 400 years later astronauts would be zipping around the world at 30,000 km/hr, and that students would be able to talk to them live from their classroom, he would have never believed it!

In addition to communicating with Dr. Thirsk, students will get to hear from Dr. Phil Langill, Physics and Astronomy Professor from the University of Calgary Faculty of Science.

To celebrate this exciting event, David Thompson will host an ISS Open House for parents, students and media.  Activities start at 2:45 p.m. in the main gym and students will speak with Dr. Thirsk at 3:12 p.m.

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