In the spirit of the Olympic games!

Canadian astronaut Ken Money (1993)
Photo: Canadian Space Agency

In the spirit of the Olympic games, I was watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympic games of London 2012, when I started to wander if there has ever been a Olympian who is/was also a "Astronaut" (Cosmonaut, Taikonaut)? Then I found Major Kenneth Money.

One of the Canadians who wore both military and Olympic uniforms also went on to wear an astronaut’s uniform. Kenneth Money was born in Toronto and joined the Canadian military in 1953. He set records in the high jump as a student at the University of Toronto and represented Canada in the event at the 1956 Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia, finishing in fifth place.

Money went on to become a jet pilot, earn advanced degrees in physiology and publish widely in scientific journals. He contributed new knowledge to the study of motion sickness and the biological effects of space flight. In the 1980s, Major Money was selected to be part of the Canadian astronaut program, working as one of the team members on the 1992 Spacelab mission that saw Roberta Bondar (Canada’s first female astronaut) go into space. Money was a backup astronaut for the mission, contributed to experiments with the International Microgravity Laboratory, and was a Spacelab operations radio communicator. In 1994, Money was awarded the Meritorious Service Cross for his many contributions to science and technology.

So in the spirit of the games, I wish everybody good Olympic games for the next 19 days!

Don't forget that the Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity) is going for the gold on August 6. Lets cheer it up and see what happens.

Clear skies!

Source: http://veterans.gc.ca/eng/feature/olympics/Money