NASA veteran astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman stars on Cunard’s Transatlantic Space Week cruise

The veteran NASA astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman, who has made five flights into space, is among Cunard’s expert speakers on its second annual Transatlantic Space Week in October.

The nine-night voyage on Queen Mary 2 from New York to Southampton between October 7 and 16 will once again coincide with International World Space Week, which has taken place from 4 and 10 October each year since 1999.

The journey will feature a variety of space-themed experiences as well as talks from distinguished space explorers including:

• Dr Hoffman, pictured right, former NASA astronaut and Shuttle pilot. As well as making the five space flights, he became the first astronaut to log 1,000 hours of flight time aboard the Space Shuttle. He is now Professor of Aerospace Engineering in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
• Robin Scagell of the Royal Astronomical Society, a lifelong astronomer and the author of numerous books including Complete Guide to Stargazing, 101 Things to Spot in the Night Sky, The Urban Astronomy Guide.
• Dr Lawrence Kuznetz, a former flight controller during Apollo and a 40-year veteran of the space program. Kuznetz helped to build the space shuttles and is a former Life Science Experiment Manager for the International Space Station.

“Throughout Cunard’s history the line has been synonymous with adventure and exploration, and we are excited to offer our guests the opportunity to learn about the vast wonders of space from some of the greatest explorers of our time,” said Josh Leibowitz, senior vice president, Cunard North America.

“Our acclaimed Insights program creates a unique opportunity for our guests to interact with experts from around the world.”

Queen Mary 2 is the only ship to have a full-sized planetarium, Illuminations, on board, offering a variety of constellation shows and virtual reality rides throughout the day on each transatlantic crossing.

Cunard’s partnership with the Royal Astronomical Society allows the ship to offer specially-curated shows putting distant stars and galaxies into focus and explaining what passengers can see in the night sky at different times of the year.