The Canadian Astronaut Corps is a unit of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) that selects, trains, and provides astronauts as crew members for U.S. and Russian space missions. [1] The corps has four active members, able to serve on the International Space Station (ISS).
The original 6 astronauts selected in 1983 were under the auspices of the National Research Council of Canada. They were transferred to the Canadian Space Agency when it was established in 1989.
Since 1984, when Marc Garneau became the first Canadian in space, nine CSA astronauts have flown on US NASA Space Shuttles and on Russian Soyuz rockets in 15 missions. [2] [3]
In May 2009, Robert Thirsk flew to the International Space Station (ISS) for a six-month stay, thus becoming the first Canadian to stay aboard the ISS for an extended period. On Decemder 1, 2009, after spending 188 days in space, Robert Thirsk returned to Earth aboard a Soyuz spacecraft. Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, the first Canadian Commander of the ISS, would go on to achieve worldwide fame in 2013 for releasing a music video he recorded on the International Space Station of his version of David Bowie's song "Space Oddity". Astronaut Julie Payette would go on to serve as the Governor General of Canada, and Garneau would become Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The Astronauts Corps is one of seven main divisions within the CSA. In addition to its Astronaut Corps, one of the most prominent contributions of Canada to space exploration is the robotic arm on the US space shuttles, the Canadarm.
There are four active astronauts in the Corps (Jeremy Hansen, David Saint-Jacques, Joshua Kutryk and Jennifer Sidey-Gibbons) and ten former astronauts, eight of whom have gone into space. [4] Of the nine current and former Canadian astronauts who have gone into space, two are women: Julie Payette and Roberta Bondar.
The CSA generally recruits astronauts who have degrees as scientists, engineers and/or medical doctors. [5] In addition to being Canadian citizens or residents, candidates must meet certain physical standards (including height, weight, hearing and visual acuity) as well as educational requirements.
The CSA has four active astronauts. David Saint-Jacques launched to the ISS on Soyuz MS-11 in December 2018; the other three have yet to fly their first mission. [6]
Astronaut | Missions | Group | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Jeremy Hansen | Artemis 2 | 2009 CSA Group | |
Joshua Kutryk | Starliner-1 | 2017 CSA Group | |
David Saint-Jacques | Soyuz MS-11 (Expedition 58/59) | 2009 CSA Group | |
Jennifer Sidey-Gibbons | Artemis 2-backup | 2017 CSA Group |
There are ten former CSA astronauts. [7]
Astronaut | Missions | Group | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Roberta Lynn Bondar | STS-42 | 1983 NRC Group | First Canadian woman to fly in space |
Marc Garneau | STS-41-G STS-77 STS-97 | 1983 NRC Group | First Canadian to fly in space |
Chris Hadfield | STS-74 STS-100 Soyuz TMA-07M (Expedition 34 /35) | 1992 CSA Group | Only Canadian to fly to the Russian Mir space station, first Canadian spacewalker, first Canadian commander of the ISS |
Steve MacLean | STS-52 STS-115 | 1983 NRC Group | |
Michael McKay | None | 1992 CSA Group | |
Ken Money | None | 1983 NRC Group | |
Julie Payette | STS-96 STS-127 | 1992 CSA Group | First Canadian to visit the ISS |
Robert Thirsk | STS-78, Soyuz TMA-15 (Expedition 20 /21) | 1983 NRC Group | First Canadian to live on the ISS |
Bjarni Tryggvason | STS-85 | 1983 NRC Group | |
Dafydd Williams | STS-90 STS-118 | 1992 CSA Group |
Roberta Lynn Bondar is a Canadian astronaut, neurologist and consultant. She is Canada's first female astronaut and the first neurologist in space.
Chris Austin Hadfield is a Canadian retired astronaut, engineer, fighter pilot, musician, and writer. The first Canadian to perform extravehicular activity in outer space, he has flown two Space Shuttle missions and also served as commander of the International Space Station (ISS). Prior to his career as an astronaut, he served in the Canadian Armed Forces for 25 years as an Air Command fighter pilot.
The Canadian Space Agency is the national space agency of Canada, established in 1990 by the Canadian Space Agency Act.
Julie Payette is a Canadian engineer, scientist and former astronaut who served from 2017 to 2021 as Governor General of Canada, the 29th since Canadian Confederation.
Robert Brent "Bob" Thirsk, is a Canadian retired engineer and physician, and a former Canadian Space Agency astronaut. He holds the Canadian record for the most time spent in space. He became an officer of the Order of Canada (OC) in 2013 and was named to the Order of British Columbia (OBC) in 2012.
Dafydd Rhys "David" Williams is a Canadian physician, public speaker, author and retired CSA astronaut. Williams was a mission specialist on two Space Shuttle missions. His first spaceflight, STS-90 in 1998, was a 16-day mission aboard Space Shuttle Columbia dedicated to neuroscience research. His second flight, STS-118 in August 2007, was flown by Space Shuttle Endeavour to the International Space Station. During that mission he performed three spacewalks, becoming the third Canadian to perform a spacewalk and setting a Canadian record for total number of spacewalks. These spacewalks combined for a total duration of 17 hours and 47 minutes.
Roman Yurievich Romanenko is a Russian retired cosmonaut at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. He is also a politician, sitting in the State Duma since 2021 representing the Chertanovo constituency.
Thomas Henry Marshburn is an American physician and a former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of three spaceflights to the International Space Station and holds the record for the oldest person to perform a spacewalk at 61 years old.
Michael Reed "Mike" Barratt is an American physician and a NASA astronaut. Specializing in aerospace medicine, he served as a flight surgeon for NASA before his selection as an astronaut and has played a role in developing NASA's space medicine programs for both the Shuttle-Mir Program and International Space Station. His first spaceflight was a long-duration mission to the International Space Station, as a flight engineer in the Expedition 19 and 20 crew. In March 2011, Barratt completed his second spaceflight as a crew member of STS-133. Barratt pilots the SpaceX Crew-8 mission that launched on 4 March 2024.
Aleksey Nikolayevich Ovchinin is a Russian Air Force Major and cosmonaut, who was selected in 2006. Ovchinin made his first spaceflight in 2016, and was assigned as commander of Soyuz MS-10 in 2018.
Soyuz TMA-15 was a crewed spaceflight to the International Space Station. Part of the Soyuz programme, it transported three members of the Expedition 20 crew to the space station. TMA-15 was the 102nd crewed flight of a Soyuz spacecraft, since Soyuz 1 in 1967. The Soyuz spacecraft remained docked to the space station during Expedition 20 and Expedition 21 as an emergency escape vehicle. The mission marked the start of six-person crew operations on the ISS.
David Saint-Jacques is a Canadian astronaut with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). He is also an astrophysicist, engineer, and a physician.
Women have flown and worked in outer space since almost the beginning of human spaceflight. A considerable number of women from a range of countries have worked in space, though overall women are still significantly less often chosen to go to space than men, and by June, 2020 constitute only 12% of all astronauts who have been to space. Yet, the proportion of women among space travelers is increasing substantially over time.
NASA Astronaut Group 22 is a group of twelve NASA astronauts selected in June 2017. They were joined by two Canadian Space Agency astronauts for training.
Jennifer Anne "Jenni" MacKinnon Sidey is a Canadian astronaut, engineer, and academic. She was selected by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) as one of the two members of the 2017 CSA Group alongside Joshua Kutryk. In 2023, CSA assigned her to be Jeremy Hansen's backup for the Artemis II lunar flyby mission. As of the 2023 CSA Artemis announcement, she goes by her married name, Jenni Gibbons.
Michael J. McKay is a Canadian astronaut candidate. He was selected in the initial round of four Canadian astronauts in 1992, along with Chris Hadfield, Julie Payette, and Dafydd Williams. He worked as an engineer payload specialist on ground, but did not eventually fly into space.
Expedition 58 was the 58th expedition to the International Space Station, which began on December 20, 2018 with the departure of the Expedition 57 crew. It was commanded by cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, with astronauts Anne McClain and David Saint-Jacques as flight engineers; the trio launched on board Soyuz MS-11 on December 3, 2018, marking the 100th orbital launch of the year.
Joshua Kutryk is a Canadian astronaut, fighter pilot and engineer. He was selected by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) one of the two members of the 2017 CSA Group alongside Jenni Sidey.