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After winning hearts at the Late Late Toy Show, space fan Adam King received an exclusive tour of the Irish National Space Center last night.
I was filming at the Elfordstown Earthstation near Midleton in Cork to record a Christmas message against the backdrop of the NSC and the spectacularly illuminated 32-meter radio astronomy dish.
Dressed in his Late Late Christmas sweater, Adam, 6, along with his father David, and brothers Danny, 13, and Robert, 8, received special access to the NSC and a guided tour by CEO Rory Fitzpatrick.
Fitzpatrick said: “It was a great opportunity to talk about how satellites and ground stations like Elfordstown facilitate extraterrestrial communication, and the different types of careers in the space industry that Ireland offers.”
He added: “Right now, Danny wants to be an astronaut and Adam wants to be CapCom, the astronaut on Earth who communicates with the crew members on his spacecraft.”
The facility tour included a visit to the Operations Center, located in the distinctive round room below the large plate where the children learned about NSC maritime observation, space communications, and extraterrestrial audio tracking.
They also got some hands-on action with some of the memorabilia at the NSC, including a test flight helmet from the Russian space agency Roscosmos.
Adam’s brother Danny celebrated his 13th birthday that day and received a personalized guitar pick from his hero, Commander Chris Hadfield, who served as commander of the International Space Station from 2012 to 2013.
The children also received circuit boards that were saved from the 2003 update of the large plate in the center, as well as flight jackets, hats, and special ice cream that astronauts enjoy in space.
Adam and the large plate can be seen on The Cork Nativity broadcast on RTÉ One, Christmas Eve at 9pm.
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