Joshua Kutryk and Jennifer Sidey have been chosen from among 3,772 applicants for Canada’s astronaut recruitment campaign.

Joshua Kutryk and Jennifer Sidey have been chosen from among 3,772 applicants for Canada’s astronaut recruitment campaign.
Photo Credit: Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

Canada introduces two astronaut candidates

The Canadian Space Agency has chosen Joshua Kutryk and Jennifer Sidey to join its astronaut corps. The two were selected from 3,772 applicants and underwent rigorous testing for a year.

Sidey, 28, is a mechanical engineer, a combustion scientist and a lecturer at the University of Cambridge in the U.K. She enjoys cycling, rugby and teaching.

Kutryk is 35 and worked as an experimental test pilot and a fighter pilot for the Canadian Armed Forces. He likes backcountry skiing, cycling, mountaineering and paragliding.

Both were born in the western province of Alberta.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau presented Canada’s new astronaut candidates during Canada’s 150th anniversary celebration July 1, 2017.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau presented Canada’s new astronaut candidates during Canada’s 150th anniversary celebration July 1, 2017. © PC/Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

Finalists ‘pushed to their limits’

Applicants included physicians, engineers, scientists, professors and people from many other professions. Those who met the basic requirements then took a Public Service Entrance Exam, logic tests and medical exams.

Further testing looked at dexterity, swimming, fitness and cardio, judgment, movtivation, resourcefulness, teamwork, communication and social media skills.

As the space agency says, candidates were “pushed to their limits” to test their resilience and ability to think and react under pressure.

Candidates will train in Houston

In August, Sidey and Kutryk will go to Houston, Texas where they will take a two-year astronaut candidate training program.

There have only been four astronaut recruitment campaigns in Canada. Only 12 Canadians were recruited during the campaigns of 1983, 1992, 2009.

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