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Fifty years after the Apollo 11 mission which saw the first humans to set foot on another planetary body, six Canadian astronauts will host six events across the country to commemorate the landing on the moon on July 20.
The two primary events will be in Montreal and Toronto. In Montreal, David Saint-Jacques will be at the Montreal Science Centre while Robert Thirsk will be at the Ontario Science Centre. Both events will start at 1:00 pm Eastern.
A video link will connect the two events and according to the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) they will discuss Canada’s “proud history and unfolding future of human space exploration.” Their discussion will be followed by a question-and-answer period with David Saint-Jacques.
At the same time these events are happening, four more former and current astronauts will be tuning in from their live events in St. John’s, Ottawa, Regina and Vancouver.
Current astronaut Joshua Kutryk will be at Johnson Geo Centre in St. John’s where his event will start at 2:10 pm local time.
Current astronaut Jeremy Hansen will at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa where his event will start at 12:40 pm local time.
Former astronaut Dave Williams will be at the Saskatchewan Science Centre in Regina where his event will start at 10:45 am local time.
Lastly, current astronaut Jenni Sidey-Gibbons will be at the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre in Vancouver where her event will start at 9:55 am local time.
Each venue will also feature local programming. As an example, in Toronto, visitors will be able to see the world premiere short documentary, LANDER: From Avro to Apollo, to learn about Canadian engineer Owen Maynard’s important contribution to the Apollo 11 mission. Following the viewing of the documentary there will be a moderated discussion featuring Maynard’s son Ross and filmmaker Shelley Ayres.
More event details: Apollo 50: Celebrating Moon exploration across Canada.
