2009-09-08 - The International Space Station (ISS) from the vantage point of a Space Shuttle Discovery observer. At this stage, the ISS is near completion. Visible is Canadarm2, *waving* from the top-most perch of the Station

2009-09-08 - The International Space Station (ISS) from the vantage point of a Space Shuttle Discovery observer. At this stage, the ISS is near completion. Visible is Canadarm2, *waving* from the top-most perch of the Station
Photo Credit: NASA

Canadians start NASA astronaut school

As children across Canada and the US prepare to start back to school after the summer holidays, so too are a couple of very special Canadians.

They are starting astronaut school this week at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

Part of the astronaut school training includes preparation for spacewalks. Here CSA Astronaut David Saint-Jacques during his first spacewalk training at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) in Houston, Texas.
Part of the astronaut school training includes preparation for spacewalks. Here CSA Astronaut David Saint-Jacques during his first spacewalk training at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) in Houston, Texas. © NASA

Joshua Kutryk of the central prairie province of  Saskatchewan and Jenni Sidey of the western prairie province of Alberta  are Canada’s newest candidates for an eventual space mission.

LCol. Kutryk is a fighter pilot, test-pilot, and instructor with the Royal Canadian Air Force.  In 2012, LCol Kutryk received the prestigious Liethen-Tittle Award from the United States Air Force for being their top test pilot graduate, an award also presented to Colonel Chris Hadfield in 1988, himself a former Canadian astronaut and a commander of the International Space Station (ISS) in 2013.

LCol Joshua Kutryk was chosen in July by the Canadian Space Agency as Canada’s second astronauat candidate
LCol Joshua Kutryk was chosen in July by the Canadian Space Agency as Canada’s second astronauat candidate to join the NASA astronaut programme. © RCAF

Jennifer Sidey is a PhD in engineering, specializing in combustion and a university instructor. For her outreach work in promoting science and technology to young women and girls, she was awarded the prestigious Institution of Engineering and Technology’s Young Woman Engineer of the Year Award and a RAEng Young Engineer of the Year Award in 2016.

Jennifer (Jenni) Anne MacKinnon Sidey (PhD) is one of Canada’s two astronaut-candidates to join NASA’s 2017 astronaut class.
Jennifer (Jenni) Anne MacKinnon Sidey (PhD) is one of Canada’s two astronaut-candidates to join NASA’s 2017 astronaut class. © CSA

LCol. Kutryk is a fighter pilot, test-pilot, and instructor with the Royal Canadian Air Force.  In 2012, LCol Kutryk received the prestigious Liethen-Tittle Award from the United States Air Force for being their top test pilot graduate, an award also presented to Colonel Chris Hadfield in 1988, himself a former Canadian astronaut and a commander of the International Space Station (ISS) in 2013.

Jennifer Sidey is a PhD in engineering, specializing in combustion and a university instructor. For her outreach work in promoting science and technology to young women and girls, she was awarded the prestigious Institution of Engineering and Technology’s Young Woman Engineer of the Year Award and a RAEng Young Engineer of the Year Award in 2016.

They were chosen from among the original 3,772 Canadians who responded to the Canadian Space Agency call for astronaut candidates.

Both were recruited by the Canadian Space Agency as astronaut candidates in July of 2017 following a year-long selection process and will now join the NASA astronaut class of 2017.

The two Canadian astronauts candidates will take part in a conversation on Tuesday August 22 with astronauts currently aboard the ISS on  which will be broadcast live on NASA TV

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