This past summer, the NASA space shuttle Endeavour took its 25th and final voyage to the International Space Station to deploy a device called the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a cosmic ray particle detector that scientists hope will help make breakthroughs in our understanding of dark matter, anti-matter, and the origin of the universe.
Carried along for the ride into space was a Canadian flag and a ceramic tile featuring William Osler’s coat of arms. This was presented to McGill by American astronaut Andrew Feustel in a ceremony last month.
Osler’s coat of arms. He was knighted in 1911 and chose a beaver and a fleur-de-lis as armorial symbols to represent his Canadian heritage.
Presentation of the tile to the Osler Library, with head librarian Chris Lyons and astronaut Drew Feustel.
Osler head librarian Chris Lyons holding an artifact that has traveled 6.5 million miles in 248 orbits of the Earth.