La Ronge Students Talk To Astronaut In Space

Monday, August 20, 2007 at 15:34

A Canadian astronaut talking to students in La Ronge by video link from space this morning included brief greetings in Cree and Dene in his opening remarks.

Dave Williams, who’s aboard the space shuttle Endeavour, took part in a live question-and-answer session with eight students situated at La Ronge’s Northlands College.

About 130 people witnessed the exchange from La Ronge.

14-year-old Sarah Ingram was one of the students who got to pose a question to Williams.

She asked Williams how the darkness of space affects astronauts, and if they adhere to the same sleeping and eating schedules they have on Earth.

Williams said they don’t follow a pattern — they sleep if they are tired and snack all the time.

Ingram says the experience was “very cool” and “really exciting”, and made her heart speed up.

The Canadian Space Agency organized today’s exchange to get La Ronge students to consider space travel as a career.

But Ingram says she’s not interested in science, and would be too scared to go into space.

Williams and the rest of Endeavour’s crew are scheduled to return to Earth tomorrow.