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An astronaut lands at Hallfield

It’s not every day you get to meet an astronaut…

Published

6 July 2022

Category

#Special Feature #Events

School

#Whole school

An astronaut lands at Hallfield

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It’s not every day you get to meet an astronaut…but that’s just what Hallfield pupils had the opportunity to do when former Canadian Space Agency astronaut, Dr Robert Thirsk, flew over to spend a few days with us in July.

Dr Bob, as he is known to his friends, is one of only 600 people on the planet who has been to space – and he’s done it twice! His first space mission lasted 17 days in 1996. He was then selected for a 6-month expedition to the International Space Station in 2009.

We put Bob through his paces: he joined year 5 in a STEM lesson building rockets; jumped aboard a pretend space station built by Foundation; hosted Q&A sessions with inquisitive children from Prep and Seniors; and had lunch with our Head Boys and Girls. Bob could barely move around school without children stopping him for high fives and to ask questions!

We filmed an exclusive chat between Head Master Keith Morrow and Dr Bob ahead of the Insights Talk.

Mr Morrow and Dr Robert Thirsk

In the evening, Dr Bob had a captivated audience as he took guests at his Hallfield Insights talk through a space mission from start to finish. A packed audience of Hallfield families and members of the wider community heard what it’s really like to be an astronaut from take-off to landing, along with accompanying photos and scientific facts.

Hands shot up at the end, desperate to ask questions, and the queue for signed pictures stretched all the way around the hall, with children (and their parents!) waiting patiently to talk to Bob and have a photo taken.

Bob left quite an impression on everyone he met.

Safe travels, Dr Bob. Thank you for spending time with us at Hallfield.

Here are just some of the questions pupils asked Dr Bob:

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