Welcome to Miraikan

Guest:Dr. and Ms. Christer Fuglesang (Astronaut from ESA)
Mr. and Ms. Stefan Noreen (Ambassador of Sweden)
Date:Saturday, April 12, 2008

Dr. Christer Fuglesang, Sweden's first astronaut, visited Miraikan along with Mr. Stefan Noreen, the Ambassador of Sweden, for an appearance for the talk event "Let's Meet a Scientist! " Dr. Fuglesang and Director Mohri met during the same training class at NASA and renewed their friendship following a long interval.
Mr. Fuglesang, who is also an elementary particle physicist, enthusiastically viewed the accelerator and the neutrino observation exhibit and autographed the International Space Station (ISS) exhibit (Space Habitation Module) where he stayed during his space flight in 2006.

Based on the theme of "My Journey to the ISS - For People Aiming Toward Space -, " Dr. Fuglesang spoke to the audience about earth's environment as seen from space, and the event enjoyed a standing-room-only audience. Dr. Fuglesang shared his story about his training and about how he spent time on the ISS and highlighted his presentation with videos and photographs. Interestingly, while being a student he also was Swedish champion of frisbee, hence, as a surprise at Miraikan, Mr. Fugleasang also had to explain how he had taken a frisbee to the ISS and to let it free float inside the space station and hence setting a "galactic record" for the longest free flight of a frisbee. This fun point added to an event which was already filled with excitement.

During the question and answer period, an elementary school student who seeks to become an astronaut in the future asked, in fluent English, "What should I do to become a space scientist? " Dr. Fuglesang encouraged this child by replying, "It is more important to have one specialized field that you study deeply than to focus on what exactly to study." Also, Ambassador Noreen mentioned how the Embassy of Sweden hopes to continue the exchange with Miraikan for science and technology far beyond this visit.