CSA Astronaut David Saint-Jacques Could Read Your Story From Space

Chris Hadfield, author and retired Canadian astronaut, last week launched the Canadian Space Agency's (CSA's) out-of-this-world writing contest at the Toronto Reference Library.

Young Canadians are invited to write a children's story about space. Astronaut David Saint-Jacques will pick one of his favourites and read it from the International Space Station during a live event with the author(s). Other top picks will be published on the CSA website. Through this contest, the Canadian Space Agency and astronaut David Saint-Jacques aim to spark young people's interest in reading and writing and to foster discovery and learning about scientific subjects such as space.

"Even when my work takes me far from home, I like to keep the ritual of reading bedtime stories going. For me, it's a special time to connect with my children, and books fuel children's imagination. I'll continue doing it from space. It would be great if I could read my children your story," said David Saint-Jacques, Canadian Space Agency astronaut.

"Books ignite the imagination and allow people of all ages to explore new worlds. This contest is a unique way to get young Canadians interested in the universe around them, by encouraging them to be creative and write a story about space," Hadfield (pictured) said.

David Saint-Jacques will fly to the International Space Station on his first mission as part of Expedition 58/59. To participate in this unique writing contest, visit Wanted: Creative Writers. Stories can be written by one author or a team of authors, at home or in the classroom. Authors must be at least nine years old to participate. The age categories are 9 to 12 years old, 13 to 15 years old, and 16 years and up.

Participants can submit an original story until December 31, 2018. A selection of stories will be published on the CSA website between January and June 2019.

To engage young Canadians in science and related disciplines, the CSA is coordinating and collaborating with partners to deliver a wide variety of activities during David's mission. Here are some examples:

• Living Space: A new youth science research project where students explore how environmental conditions can affect physical and mental health while practising analytical thinking and learning digital skills like coding.
• Little Inventors – Inventions for Space: A creative challenge for children across the country to come up with ideas to make life in space easier and more fun. The top inventions will be turned into prototypes by expert makers and artisans. Two will even make an appearance in space!
• Astro Pi Challenge: A European science and coding competition where students are invited to develop code that could be run on the Space Station's unique Raspberry Pi computers. Two different complexity levels make Astro Pi accessible to students with or without coding experience.
• Mission: Astronaut: Children and the young at heart will be invited to discover what living and working on the Space Station is like through a new space-themed game.

(Source: CSA news release. Image provided by CSA)

FMI: www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/missions/expedition58-59/activities/wanted-creative-writers.asp