2023-05-04 20:31:00
Astronaut David Saint-Jacques, who spent more than 200 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS), relives this milestone in his life as a scientist thanks to the virtual reality experience Space Explorers: L’INFINI.
The 53-year-old engineer, astrophysicist and family doctor is talking regarding a ‘great travel album’ for him, he said on Thursday during a press tour of the immersive journey spectacular set in the Old Port of Montreal.
MARIO BEAUREGARD/QMI AGENCY
The co-founder and chief creative officer of Felix & Paul Studios, Félix Lajeunesse, with astronaut David Saint-Jacques.
Two years following the world premiere presented in the metropolis, the general public of Quebec can enjoy a journey embellished with new images filmed outside the ISS, in 3D and in 360-degree virtual reality.
The QMI Agency took part in the immersive 45-minute circuit on Thursday. Equipped with a virtual reality helmet fitted with earphones, the journalists visited the ISS and rubbed shoulders with an international team of astronauts. They even had the opportunity to “float” in space to see two astronauts at work during an extravehicular spacewalk and thus be able to admire the blue planet in all its majesty.
“I spent a lot of time today outside the station looking at the dome, looking for places to listen to my friends talk, it’s like going back there,” said Saint-Jacques.
From December 3, 2018 to June 24, 2019, he circled the Earth 3,264 times and traveled 139,096,495 kilometers aboard the ISS. We can also see it in the ISS during the immersive experience.
“It really warms my heart to know that it’s so easy for so many people [de vivre] this experience, it’s really realistic, I find myself there. If you found it interesting, you were up there,” he added, saying that sharing the experience of astronauts with as many people as possible, including young people, thrills him as a scientist.
It’s quite simply striking to find ourselves in the ISS, as if we were there, we who will never go into space. We can move through the ISS modules and, thanks to explanatory bubbles that we activate with our hands, 3D videos are broadcast, in which we can see astronauts carrying out research or explaining to us the fruit of their work. . There are many bubbles along the way, so you can’t reach them all in one pass, so each person makes their own journey through space.
MARIO BEAUREGARD/QMI AGENCY
The course of the immersive experience “Space Explorers: INFINITY” stretches over 45 minutes.
MARIO BEAUREGARD/QMI AGENCY
The room where the immersive experience takes place.
MARIO BEAUREGARD/QMI AGENCY
More than 100,000 onlookers are expected in the coming months in the Old Port to try the experience.
A highly creative studio
All this experience filmed in 3D and 360-degree virtual reality, we owe it to the Montreal team of Felix & Paul Studios, who were able to install their state-of-the-art cameras, proudly developed at home, on board the ISS as well as on the Canadian arm to shoot stunning images. Felix & Paul Studios and Studio PHI have come together for this project by forming a joint venture called INFINITY Experiences. Outside the ISS, filming stretched over a week and, by deploying the Canadian arm to its full extension, we were able to bank some incredible images of Earth.
So far, 250,000 curious people have been able to see “Space Explorers: INFINITY”, notably in Houston, a mecca for space exploration as NASA headquarters. At least 100,000 onlookers are expected in the Old Port over the next few months.
David Saint-Jacques, who is of the Apollo generation, is aware that today’s young people will be as fascinated as he is by space and the Moon thanks to the Artemis program, the brand new chapter in space exploration.
MARIO BEAUREGARD/QMI AGENCY
Astronaut David Saint-Jacques spent more than 200 days on the International Space Station from December 3, 2018 to June 24, 2019, circling the Earth 3,264 times and traveling 139,096,495 kilometers.
Felix & Paul Studios will not stop there. He has a live transmission project from the ISS and his cameras are already accompanying the astronauts of the Artemis II mission. “We started filming the training of Artemis astronauts for future missions a year ago. So, it is our intention to continue to support the human space exploration program in the coming years,” said Félix Lajeunesse, co-founder and chief creative officer of Felix & Paul Studios.
Tickets are on sale online [theinfiniteexperience.world/montreal].
1683233568
#Space #Explorers #INFINITY #David #SaintJacques #space
