CSA announces new astronaut candidates

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) announced two new astronauts who will join its astronaut corps, Joshua Kutryk, and Jennifer Sidey, on Saturday, July 1, the event was tied to the 150th celebration of Canada Day and was made by Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister. Photo Credit: Jeffrey Radbourne

OTTAWA, Ontario — The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) announced big news on the 150th anniversary of the nation’s Confederation: the next astronaut candidates that the space agency would prepare for trips beyond Earth’s atmosphere. The announcement was made by Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, on Parliament Hill, the nation’s capital, during the Canada Day festivities.

Joshua Kutryk and Jennifer Sidey will join the CSA’s two current astronauts: David Saint-Jacques (who is currently scheduled to fly on Dec. 2018) and Jeremy Hansen (who serves with the CSA evaluation team and is the NASA astronaut candidate class mentor and leader). This means that these latest two additions will double the size of the CSA’s astronaut corps.

Interestingly, overhead, Kutryk’s brother, Matthew, flew as a member of Canada’s CF-18 Demo Team, buzzing the nation’s Capital.

Canada is one of the 16 nations that are involved with the International Space Station. The nation has contributed the Canadarm 2 and Dextre – the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) to the orbiting laboratory. Canada’s astronauts have gained access to the space station via NASA’s now-retired fleet of shuttle orbiters and Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft.

Videos courtesy of the Canadian Space Agency

Tagged: Canadian Space Agency International Space Station Lead Stories

Sean Costello

Sean Costello is a technology professional who also researches, writes about and speaks publicly on the inspiring lessons within international space flight program. Prior to joining SpaceFlight Insider in early 2014, Costello was a freelance photographer and correspondent covering shuttle-era Kennedy Space Center launches for various radio and print news organizations.