Belgium rule the Galaxy November 25, 2008
Posted by sarah in: science . Add a commentWell, not quite perhaps…. But good news!
ESA announced last week that Belgium’s second man in space, Frank Dewinne, will become the first non-American or non-Russian to command the International Space Station. After a first visit in 2002, Dewinne, 47, will be returning to the ISS on board a Russian Soyuz in May next year. He’ll be part of the first 6-man crew on board the station, taking advantage of the upgrades taking place during the current ongoing mission. He may even be able to drink his own pee! During the last few weeks of his 6-month stay, the Belgian civil engineer and pilot will take command of the ISS crew, ending the Americo-Russian dominance of the post.
If you read Dutch you can read more here.
Incidentally, Belgium’s first man in space was Dirk Frimout (in English here!), who travelled on Space Shuttle Atlantis in 1992. Dirk has since been immortalised in Suske & Wiske, one of Belgium’s most popular comics. He was voted the 161st and 26th Greatest Belgian by the Flemish and Wallonian communities respectively. Placed higher in Wallonia than in Flanders – ha, who says we can’t get along?!
Go Frank, go Belgium!
Olympics snippets August 25, 2008
Posted by sarah in: me, random, women . Add a commentI missed a lot of the Olympics while I was on holiday but I really enjoyed what I saw. Special congratulations go to some of the Belgians who did brilliantly, in particular Tia Hellebaut, who won gold on the high jump, and the women’s 4x100m relay team (Olivia Borlée, Hannah Mariën, Elodie Ouedraogo and Kim Gevaert) who got silver. Hellebaut won the first ever female athletics gold for Belgium, yay!
Happy birthday Belgium July 21, 2008
Posted by sarah in: random . Add a commentOh no I’m 2 minutes too late! Anyway 21 July is Belgium’s national holiday. To celebrate, here’s the lyrics to the national anthem, the Brabanconne, in Flemish.
O dierbaar België
O heilig land der Vaad’ren
Onze ziel en ons hart zijn u gewijd.
Aanvaard ons kracht en het bloed van onze ad’ren,
Wees ons doel in arbeid en in strijd.
Bloei, o land, in eendracht niet te breken;
Wees immer u zelf en ongeknecht,
Het woord getrouw, dat g’ onbevreesd moogt spreken:
Voor Vorst, voor Vrijheid en voor Recht.
Het woord getrouw, dat g’ onbevreesd moogt spreken:
Voor Vorst, voor Vrijheid en voor Recht.
Voor Vorst, voor Vrijheid en voor Recht.
Voor Vorst, voor Vrijheid en voor Recht.
