From Kihikihi to the stars, via Star Trek
A man with a keen interest in the final frontier has launched his own space centre which aims to educate others on life outside of Earth. Nancy El-Gamel reports.
Who would have known that a spare part from a space toilet would one day become the centre piece of an educational lesson for kids in the Waikato.
Ten years ago, Dave John Owen bought the space toilet component and is standing in his new Te Awamutu Space Centre, in Kihikihi, talking to a school group about how astronauts relieve themselves after they leave Earth.
‘‘You have to train for it because there’s a few tricky things about going to the toilet in space. Everything in space floats, including people, so you have to strap yourself down . . . otherwise you can become a human rocket.’’
Owen remembers being a 4-year-old watching television when he saw an advert for Star Trek.
‘‘I turned to my mum and said ‘what was that?’ From then on I was hooked on space.’’
The former TV director’s collection started with the spare part of a toilet in a little corner of his home office, but quickly took over an entire room in his house.
‘‘I’ve been building up a personal collection over many years and I’ve had this idea in the back of my mind that I would like to open up some type of space centre or museum.’’
Even though friends told him he would have to go to a major city for the centre to be successful, it was important for Owen to stay close to home.
‘‘I recognised a real need for more specialist education about space and the schools really appreciate it.’’
But Owen’s collection doesn’t just include artefacts and memorabilia. He has built a Mars greenhouse that aims to replicate conditions space travellers will find on the red planet.
‘‘Everyone’s talking about how we are off to Mars soon. One of the things we will have to do is figure out how to grow food, so this is an experiment to find out how difficult it will be and what foods will grow well.’’
He has attempted to simulate martian soil, the cold temperatures and an atmosphere mainly filled with carbon dioxide.
‘‘It’s not a purely academic experiment,’’ said Owen. ‘‘It’s more for people to see what it would be like and to inspire the kids.’’
And the kids are certainly interested, hanging onto his every word with an
SPACE KIT
Some of Dave John Owen’s favourite space items.
One of his favourite pieces is a checklist that was used on the Apollo missions when the shuttles went into orbit. ‘‘It was used by Apollo astronauts who went to the moon. Nowadays they do all this on a computer.’’
Parts of Russian space suits sit in glass boxes. ‘‘It’s neat to think that these are what the cosmonauts used when they were in space. When you put your hand in [a glove] they’re actually really hard to use so you can imagine how tough it is actually doing any work.’’
Cosmonauts had to strap their sleeping bags to the wall so they wouldn’t float away in their sleep. ‘‘This sleeping bag has actually been in space. Some of the astronauts like to fold their arms so their arms don’t float around.’’
Owen has different styles of space wear on display and said the designs haven’t changed much since the 1970s but expects radical changes over the next 20 years. ‘‘There’s been incremental changes but the basics haven’t changed a huge amount, especially with the Russian stuff.’’ endless stream of questions – Is it true the moon creates waves? Where do asteroids come from? How are galaxies made? – and Owen couldn’t be happier.
‘‘I love talking about it, I love teaching kids about it, I love it when they ask questions. I get a real kick off it. I love it so much I want to spend all day doing it.’’
Owen attends workshops, takes courses online and keeps his eye on auctions but he hasn’t finished yet.
‘‘I really want to do a lot more work on Maori astronomy and the history of astronomy and space exploration in New Zealand.’’
Kihikihi Primary School pupils Jesse Bracken, Maddison Sargent and Andrew Childs hold some of their favourite
space toys on a school trip to the centre.
Maddison Sargent learns the history behind the International Space Station.