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"I think it's for the next generation of astronauts. Not for me, "said Saint-Jacques, at the launch of an exhibition on the lunar rock at the Montreal Science Center on Friday.
Still, he said he would like to see the imprint of Canadians on the Moon.
Physically and physically, it is a possibility. But these are political decisions, program decisions. I think we should. It would be a truly incredible source of inspiration for everyone.
As part of the exhibition, visitors will be able to touch a fragment of the Moon, whose existence goes back at 3.8 billion years, weighing 24 grams and no bigger than an eraser.
It is no coincidence that the official unveiling of the exhibition took place on the day of the 49th anniversary of the first moon landing by the Apollo 11 astronauts on July 20, 1969.
David Saint-Jacques did not miss the opportunity to get his hands on the most recent attraction of the Science Center, which was collected during the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
A mission with historical accents
M. Saint-Jacques, which will fly on December 20th aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, will celebrate its 49th birthday on January 6th on the International Space Station.
Its mission will end, however, before the 50th anniversary of the "small "The calendar is yet to be determined … but I will be back on Earth," he said.
For the moment, his agenda is very busy for the next five months before he leaves for the Space Station.
"We are focusing on my training to be the best way the eyes and hands of scientists on the planet who have thought to all these experiments that I will carry out, "said Saint-Jacques
" I must also learn how to experiment on my own, because I will be the subject or guinea pig for many of these experiments ", at- he added.
Exhibition never seen in Montreal
The Montreal Science Center maintains that its lunar rock exhibition is only the 10th of its kind in the world.
Before arriving in Montreal, the fragment of moon was stored in NASA laboratories, where it was protected from the Earth's atmospheric conditions. Basalt rock had never been touched before, except by NASA experts having prepared it for his trip to Montreal.
Employee Sara Arsenault, who traveled to Houston to take possession of it, said he saw many samples collected by American astronauts that are kept in private cabins.
The fragment of the Moon will be the star of the new exhibition Water in the Universe Center
Another object that visitors will be able to examine is the lunar module landing gear used in the Apollo missions, which was manufactured by the Quebec company Héroux-Devtek.
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