Monday, June 27, 2005

NASA astronaut "Cady" Coleman comes to Singapore, 30 Jun 2005

How often does one get to meet a true-blue "been-to-space" lady astronaut from NASA? This Thursday, I will make sure I get to meet one!

In Singapore!

In a library (WRL)!

Catherine G. "CADY" Coleman, PH.D. (Colonel, USAF) will talk about her two space missions, about the space station, about the Mars Exploration Programme, and some of her recent adventures in living in Antarctica and in an undersea habitat. And of course, how to become an astronaut. She should know! She's a veteran of two space missions and has logged over 500 hours in space. As we say in Singapore, "Don't play play hor!"

Accompanying her is Josh Simpson, her husband, who's an accomplished Glass Artist. He'll also be at the library and will talk about "the Integration of Art and Science". On this webpage, he notes some significant timelines, including those relating to his wife (see 1990 onwards):
  • 1990 Josh answers wrong number and accidentally meets Air Force Captain Cady Coleman.
  • 1992 Cady Coleman chosen as Mission Specialist NASA Astronaut; Josh overcome with jealousy.
  • 1995 Cady’s first space shuttle flight. Simpson planet goes into orbit.
  • 1997 Josh and Cady marry
  • 1999 Cady’s second space flight. Josh receives digital “pick and place” robot bead machine from Mr. Morito, who challenges him to find new uses for it. First successful image: Elvis
  • 2002 Cady sent by NASA on Extreme Environment Mission to Antarctica for 12 weeks to search for extra terrestrial meteorites. Living full time with his malevolent dad, two year old Jamey is forced to eat vegetables with dinner almost every night
  • 2004 Son Josiah spends College Junior Year living in a dung hut in Tanzania with a Masai family herding cattle. Wife Cady assigned to NASA NEEMO Extreme Environment Mission to live underwater off the coast of Florida. 4 year old Jamey learns to ride a two wheeler. Life is good.
Admission to the WRL programme is free. Programme starts at 6.30pm (Thursday, 30 June 2005).

BTW, our guests would be escorted by librarians dressed up as Star Wars characters! Another photo-opportunity for those who missed the previous photo-op at TRL.

Plug: The above is part of the "Exploration and Expression: Fusion of Arts and Space" series of programmes (brought to you by my librarian colleagues from Adult and Young People Services).


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2 comments:

  1. Anonymous2:49 pm

    Giving false hopes to our children, aren't we?

    No one in Singapore will ever become an astronaut, not even if you migrate to US. NASA has strict recruitment laws.

    Hehe, bitter much?

    I guess we should let them have a childhood.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Anonymous,
    History is replete with examples of ordinary people breaking conventions to achieve what most claimed was “impossible”. :)

    Perhaps this might sound corny: Showing a child how to dream is part of giving them a childhood. Turning dreams to reality is something else, but one has got to start somewhere.

    ReplyDelete

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