Thai children should dream big and maybe they will grow up to be astronauts and have sticky rice for space meals in the future, Nasa astronaut Charlie Duke says.
A boy in the zero-gravity module at the "Nasa — A Human Adventure" space exhibition at Bangkok Convention Centre, Central Plaza Ladprao. The exhibition showcases 400 original pieces of space-exploration related objects and runs until Feb 1 next year. Thiti Wannamontha
The tenth — and youngest — man on the moon, Brig-Gen Duke, was a special guest at the opening of a Nasa exhibition in Bangkok yesterday.
The exhibition is jointly hosted by Central Pattana Plc, BEC-Tero and Thaicom. It will be open at the Bangkok Convention Centre in CentralPlaza, Lad Phrao for the next two months.
"It was my dream to become an astronaut, but preparing myself to be one was a very long process. It took education, physical training and motivation," Brig-Gen Duke said.
He advised Thai youngsters not to abandon their dreams, especially those who want to become astronauts.
"You have to work hard. You have to take good care of yourself. Being an astronaut is not an easy job, but it is an exciting one," he said.
"Young people should always dream big," he said.
When asked if there is a Thai dish he would like to see in space, Brig-Gen Duke said he had enjoyed his first taste of mango sticky rice a few days ago.
"I would like to see 'space sticky rice' in the future. I had it and it was pretty tasty," the moonwalker said.
An impressive collection of over 400 original objects, including space suits, space-food packages, spacecraft, rockets, control panels, computers and many examples of equipment never before seen in Thailand, is on display at the exhibition which runs until Feb 1, 2015.
Manasvi Srisodapol, deputy permanent secretary for foreign affairs, said the Nasa exhibition is a good way to enhance US-Thai relations and share scientific expertise.
The exhibition was arranged with the cooperation of Nasa, the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Centre, the US Space and Rocket Centre, the US embassy and the Thai Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
The Bangkok event is the first Nasa exhibition in Southeast Asia.
Previously, the exhibition has been held in Spain, Turkey, the Netherlands and Sweden.
The event also marks His Majesty the King's 87th birthday this Friday as well as 180 years of Thai-US relations.