UNB’s Andrews Initiative is pleased to announce that Colonel Chris Hadfield, the first Canadian commander of the International Space Station (ISS) will deliver a free public lecture entitled The Sky is Not the Limit on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 at 7:00PM in the Lady Beaverbrook Gymnasium on UNB campus. As part of the 2015 Andrews Initiative theme Reimagining the Internet, Col. Hadfield will speak about the ways that social media and advances in technology can open up a new world of communication.
In conjunction with Col. Hadfield’s visit, the UNB Art Centre has invited over 2500 school children from across the province to participate in an art exhibition entitled Postcards from Mars. Students from K-12 are invited to imagine what life might look like on the planet Mars and design and compose a postcard to a friend or loved one back on Earth. Postcards from Mars will officially open on Saturday, April 25 at 1:00PM at the UNB Art Centre and will be on display from April 17-June 18. As part of his visit to UNB, on April 21 at 12:30PM, Col. Hadfield will speak to many of these students live on campus and via a simultaneous webcast.
Col. Hadfield has won many awards and titles in his career as a pilot, engineer, and astronaut, including the Order of Canada, the Meritorious Service Cross, and the NASA Exceptional Service Medal. He has been commemorated on Canadian postage stamps, gold and silver coins from the Royal Canadian Mint, and appears on Canada’s newest five-dollar bill with fellow astronauts Steve MacLean and Dave Williams. Col. Hadfield has been called “the most famous astronaut since Neil Armstrong”, and his talk at UNB will bring the marvel of science and space travel to our community as he has done for thousands of others around the world.
Tickets to Col. Hadfield’s talk are free, and members of the public are invited to enter a lottery for a chance to receive tickets at www.unb.ca/initiatives/andrews. Following the talk, Col. Hadfield will be available to sign copies of his books, An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, published in 2013, and You are Here: Around the World in 92 Minutes, a photography collection published in 2014. Both are published by Random House of Canada.
The Andrews Initiative was created by UNB president emeritus John McLaughlin, and launched in 2011. We offer quality learning opportunities in contemporary topics for the 21st century. For more information, visit: http://www.unb.ca/initiatives/andrews.
