Presented by
Dr Andy Thomas, NASA Astronaut

The October Lecture is a premium event presented by RiAus for students in Years 8-10. 2011 October Lecture was presented by Dr Andy Thomas.

Andy is Adelaide born and raised and is currently a member of the NASA Astronaut Corps at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.  He has flown into space on board the space shuttle on four separate occasions including a 20 week stay on board the Russian Space Station, Mir.

During the lecture Andy gave a first-hand account of what it is like to be an astronaut in space. He talked about his early experiences training to become an astronaut and shared anecdotes of his time in zero-gravity. He talked about his vision for the future, particularly his hopes for further exploration of the moon and Mars. The audience at RiAus as well as schools viewing online were given the opportunity to have Andy Thomas answer their questions.

Andy said that South Australia is beautiful from space — blue ocean, vibrant green land and red desert to the north of the state. He fondly recalled that on his first space trip, residents of Adelaide left their lights on for him so that he could spot his hometown from high above.

The response from one attendee at the October Lecture was this:

“We are never too old to learn and I am always trying to absorb new information like RiAus provides in such a fantastic way.” – Cathy Carter

Related Content 

Andy Thomas visited ABC 891 while he was in Adelaide, and was interviewed by Ian Henschke. You can listen to the podcast.

Have you always wanted to be an astronaut? (6 October 2011) By Rose Wodecki

YouTube Space Lab means sky is no limit for students (14 October 2011) RiAus media release

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