Staying up late in July 1969 to watch Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin step from Apollo 11 onto the surface of the moon was exiting but not at all unexpected to a science fiction reader. Having spent years immersed in Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury and so many other great writers it was never IF, just HOW SOON we would conquer space. In my mind, it was only a matter of time be for all those stories of Martian colonies, aliens (friendly or hostile), parallel universes, androids and my own personal space trips would all come true.Sadly, didn’t happen – the space race seems to have ground to a slow stroll, despite the International Space station.However, here is a chance to get a little closer to those dreams in the person of Greg Johnson, a Real Astronaut. Gregory Johnson is a NASA astronaut and a retired colonel in the United States Air Force. Johnson is a veteran of two space flights, STS-123 and STS-134, (both aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour) where he spent nearly 32 days in orbit and contributed to the assembly of the International Space Station. He has also served in numerous roles for NASA, and is currently the President and Executive Director for the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS).Meet Greg in Ballyfermot Library on Thursday 13th November at 1pm. He will be talking about being an astronaut and the experience of visiting space, followed by a Q&A session. (Children and adults welcome. Book a place at the library).
