Less than a year ago, astronaut Soyeon Yi became the first Korean

Less than a year ago, astronaut Soyeon Yi became the first Korean to travel into space when she blasted off on a Soyuz rocket for a scientific mission on the International Space Station.

Holding a Ph.D. in biotech systems, Yi was selected from over 36,000 applicants to be an alternate to the Korean Astronaut Program’s first space traveler. After almost two years of intensive training at facilities in Russia and the United States, she was added to the mission a month before blast-off, and launched into space on April 8, 2008 for a ten-day stay at the International Space Station.

While on board, Yi conducted series of experiments, studying the effects of weightlessness on the behavior of fruit flies as well as the growth in plants in space. She also used a state-of-the-art 3D camera to take pictures of her face, so that scientists could study how the zero-gravity environment of space affected its shape.

Yi’s program is free with admission to the Hall, which features over 400 exhibits, including an original Atlas booster with a replica Mercury capsule and an original Titan II booster with a replica two-man Gemini capsule.

On Sunday Yi visited the Korea Society and spent most of the day speaking with the children and answering their questions.

For more information, please visit www.nyscience.org or www.koreasociety.org.