|
The
pebble from the summit of Mount Everest has made it back
to Earth.
On April 17, astronaut Steve MacLean
gave the pebble back to its owner, explorer Bernard
Voyer.
Mr. MacLean took this precious rock with him on NASA
space mission STS-115,
in the fall of 2006.
The pebble made 186 orbits around the Earth, at an
altitude of 354.4 km, travelling a total distance of
7,797,200 km.
The pebble was part of the astronaut’s official
flying kit.
On November 12, 2002, at the Canadian Museum of Nature
in Ottawa, Bernard gave astronaut Steve
MacLean the Canada Post stamp depicting Mount
Everest, along with this precious
stone that he picked up on the roof of the world
on May 5, 1999.
| Bernard
says it was an honour for him: “When the Himalayan
mountain chain was formed, this pebble was at the
bottom of the ocean. If over the millennia it managed
to rise 8,850 metres to reach the highest point
on our planet, it certainly deserved to go even
higher.” |
|
|
