What do Walt Disney and the first Canadian in space have to do with each other ? Would n’t YOU wish to know ……
Picture this: it’s thesummer of 1983and theNational Research Councilfor Canadians puts out kind of like, a super casual open casting call for ASTRONAUTS in the newspaper.
Well, 4,300 Canadians saw that newspaper ad and thought, “Yes, please! Space for me!"
Of those 4,300 quirky Canadians who wanted to go to space, a group of six Canadians were chosen. Included in that group was a man named Marc Garneau.
Born inQuébec City, Marc graduated from engineering physics and later earned hisPh.Din electrical engineering. By 1984, Marc had SERVED as a Canadian naval officer forone decade. But beyond Marc’s impressive career, he was – first and foremost – a good ol' Québecois family man.
In December of 1983, Marc was the ONE lucky Canadian selected to go on the US space shuttle as a “payload specialist.”
And just a few months later, on October 5th 1984, Marc officially commenced the STS-41G mission of the American space shuttle Challenger – making him theFIRST CANADIANTO EVER GO TO SPACE!
Here’s where the story gets CUTE! Marc decided that, instead of telling his eight-year old twins that he was going to Literal Space,he would tell them that he was going to WALT DISNEY WORLD instead.
Who Marc’s kids thought he was hanging out with in 1984:
Who Marc was actually hanging out with in 1984:
I wonder how his kids felt about it when their dad came back and instead of bringing back those amaaaaazing hats with the Minnie/Mickey Mouse ears on them, he was like, “I am an astronaut. I have seen Earth in all its beautiful, mystic glory.”
But, one thing is for sure: Marc’s family had many decades to come of watching their Dad be a Canadian hero. Shortly after returning from his first mission, Garneau left the navy and devoted himself entirely to being anastronaut.
In total, his career as an astronaut took him out to space three times where he logged more than677 hours.
Marc went onto be appointedVice Presidentof the Canadian Space Agency which later led him to pursue a career in politics – one which eventually led to his appointment asMinister of TransportforJustin Trudeau.
Marc Garneau, you are a man, a myth, and most importantly, a LEGEND! All we can say is, thank you for your service! 🫡
Elon Musk could provide me 1 billion buck to blast off to space and I ’d still say no ! ! ! ! ! But love that for Marc . Link in bio for full account about the first Canadian in space#waltdisney#historytok#canadianhistory#astronaut#space#greenscreen
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