Remember last year when then-candidate Barack Obama recalled growing up on Star Trek and believing in the final frontier? Turns out he’s not the only global leader who claims finding inspiration in space (real or fictional) at an early age. On Wednesday the Canadian Space Agency announced its two newest astronauts, an announcement that warranted a statement from Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper. The statement includes some generic platitudes about the two men selected and the “incredible depth of talent in Canada” in the form of the 5,351 applicants for the two openings. “I am excited to meet these two Canadians who may be travelling into space,” Harper added. “I was one of many young people who were inspired to dream of space travel after hearing of the first manned spaceflights.”
Would that he became an astronaut. He would have done less damage. Oh, wait, forget it: aerospace would’ve required him to accept scientific principals incompatible with his conservative worldview.