Astronaut Dr. Dave Williams visits the War Plane Heritage Museum

On Saturday attendees of the War Plane Heritage Museum in Hamilton had an out-of-this-world visitor and Canadian space legend, Dr. Dave Williams.

Williams shared his experiences with a packed crowd, a space adventure not many humans have been able to experience.

But for astronauts like Williams, it’s a reality and just part of the job.

Astronaut Williams traveled to space on two separate occasions explaining, “the first time was in 1998 the second time was in 2007 where I helped build the space station” and even set the record for Canadian spacewalks.

Rogan O’donnell, a future pilot, said, “I’ve always been in air cadets, since the age of 12 and I’m really hoping to go ARC and become a fire pilot, basically following the same thing and it’s really an inspiration to meet someone whose done what you are trying to do.” 

Many visitors to the museum say they had a great experience hearing the astronaut’s stories, as Williams gave visitors of the museum some inspiring words about following their dreams no matter how far away they are.

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“I think for the young ones, don’t let other people define your dreams go for whatever your passions are,” Dr. Dave Williams said, “if you wanna be a pilot, that’s fantastic, if you want to be an engineer, if you want to be an astronaut, you never know you might be a part of the next generations of Canadians back to the moon and on to Mars.”

Guests who attended the museum today said they enjoyed seeing a Canadian in space with NASA and good to hear about the future of space travel.

Astronaut Williams also said he had an important message for everyone, “realizing we are all in this together. There are no borders that you can see from space separating countries our planet is incredibly beautiful and we need to protect it for future generations.” 

The Canadian War Plane Heritage Museum is open for Family Day weekend on Sunday and Monday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.