Astronauts to drop in

11:16am Thursday 21st August 2008

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A group of astronauts will boldly go into Bradford next month.

And schoolchildren across the district will get the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet them.

The seven space explorers – who have just returned from a trip to the International Space Station – arrive in Centenary Square, Bradford, on Thursday, September 11, at 10am.

After a civic reception, the crew will visit Bradford Bulls to talk to primary school children about their remarkable June 2008 mission to deliver equipment for the Japanese Experiment Module, which NASA described as the “nearest to perfect” ever achieved.

The children will get the chance to ask questions and have their photograph taken with the spacemen and women.

The crew will also visit Bradford College’s Trinity Green campus, Salts Grammar School, Thornton Grammar School, East Riddlesden Hall at Keighley and the Yorkshire Planetarium during their two-day visit.

The event, which has the theme You can Do It, has been organised by Bradford-based Space Connections and Bradford College in conjunction with YES net – providers of space education – and supported by Yorkshire Forward.

Helen Barraclough, managing director of Space Connections, said: “It’s going to be a fantastic event for these school children – and for the city. As well as being exciting, this visit will inspire young people’s interest in space and make them think about science and technology.”