Canada's Second Man in Space

Steve MacLean is an astronaut. In October 1989 he flew on a United States space shuttle. He will be the second Canadian in space. The first was Marc Garneau.

The shuttle will be 250 kilometers above the earth.

Was MacLean nervous? "The first two minutes are the most dangerous," he says. In 1986 the shuttle Challenger exploded 75 seconds after lift-off. The explosion killed all seven people.

Maclean trained for his flight for six years. He was in space for eight days. 

Background Information

Talk about what you know about the space program. When did the first man land on the moon? What was his name? What is going on in space travel today?

Questions

1. Who was the first Canadian in space?

2. How high will the shuttle be?

3. What is a shuttle?

4. Why do you think the first two minutes of the flight are the most dangerous?

5. What does lift-off mean?

6. What happened to the shuttle Challenger?

7. How long did Maclean train for his flight?

8. How long was he in space?

9. Why do you think it took so long to train him?

10. What kinds of things do you think Maclean learned?