The Bank of Canada Museum will be adding an out-of-this-world item to its collection: the five dollar bill that Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield took to space.
The museum, formerly called the Canadian Currency Museum, is now closed for renovation.
It will be reopening with its new name in 2017 amid the festivities Ottawa has planned for the 150th anniversary of Confederation.
The National Currency Collection housed at the museum includes the first and fifth printed bills for every new design. The outer-space fiver will be accompanied by two other new polymer fives. It also joins a host of other interesting denominations, including a few rare three dollar bills from Canada’s past.
Hadfield’s bill is currently hanging in the Bank of Canada executive board room, according to museum staff writer Graham Iddon.
Hadfield gained international fame when the video of his cover of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” shot from the International Space Station went viral.
While commanding the ISS in April 2013 Hadfield unveiled the new fiver via the Internet.
With Hadfield being the first Canadian ever to walk in space and the country’s first ISS comander, the Canadian government seized the opportunity to promote their new polymer bills, while playing on the country’s increasing involvement in space.
“The unveiling, in 2013, matched the theme of the note, as it features images of Canadarm2 and Dextre, robotics innovations that are used to build and maintain the Space Station,” Martin Bergin, senior media relations consultant at the Bank of Canada, said via email.
Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney and then-Finance Minister Jim Flaherty participated in the landmark Earth-and-Space press conference to unveil the $5 bill, with Hadfield speaking into a microphone floating in front of him.
They likened Canada’s venture into space to the building of the railroad that united Canada over 100 years ago.
Once back home on Earth, the space fiver went into the Bank of Canada’s possession on Sept. 23, 2014, but the acquisition was only revealed last month.
The banknote will be housed at the Bank of Canada Museum, although it may be also used in future travelling exhibitions.