Astronauts take Da Vinci challenge

Astronauts take Da Vinci test

When three astronauts visited the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) in the summer, they never expected their wits to be pitted against one of the greatest minds of all time.

But that's exactly what happened when they agreed to take part in MOSI's Da Vinci The Genius challenge.

Leonardo Da Vinci is thought to have been a 'whole brain thinker'

Amongst Leonardo Da Vinci's multitude of reported skills was the ability to write legibly with one hand and draw accurately with the other simultaneously.

The highly unscientific challenge tests whether participants can do the same thing, by writing a sentence and drawing a face.

Being able to perform such a task may show that Da Vinci was a 'whole brain' thinker, a condition where both hemispheres of the brain can work efficiently at the same time.

It is thought that the left hemisphere is the more technical, linear side of the brain, in charge of functions such as speech and writing, balance and the organisation of movement, while the right side is more holistic, concerned with the emotional and visual aspect of things.

Other famous figures believed to have had 'whole brain' thinking abilities include Albert Einstein, Pablo Picasso and Lewis Carroll.

Despite their undoubted intelligence and abilities, the three crew members of the STS-119 Discovery Space Shuttle who took the test found they weren't great 'whole brain' thinkers.

Colonel Lee Archambault landed space shuttle STS-119

Mission commander Colonel Lee Archambault, shuttle pilot Tony Antonelli and mission specialist and spacewalker Joseph Acaba all gave the challenge a go - with somewhat mixed results.

They were taking the challenge in the run-up to MOSI's November exhibition dedicated to the Italian genius and archetypal 'Renaissance Man'.

MOSI want everyone to have a go at the Da Vinci challenge and are inviting people to upload films of them trying it and their finished pictures to their Da Vinci The Genius microsite.

The site also includes Leonardo-related games, information about his life and works, and a chance to discuss Da Vinci with other online aficionados.

Da Vinci The Genius opens at the Museum of Science and Industry in November.