Edmontonians prayed and cheered as Josh Kutryk from Alberta left Earth’s atmosphere. The 44-year-old was one of four astronauts on board Dragon, a spacecraft that was propelled into orbit by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 9:10 a.m. MT Thursday. “I was praying because their safety matters,” said Sarah Tickiqlong, one of a couple of dozen people who watched the launch on the Stanley A. Milner Library’s two-storey-tall digital wall. Telus World of Science Edmonton (TWOSE) co-hosted the event, providing subject matter experts to answer questions from attendees. “I appreciate watching every stage and them explaining (the stages) to us so that we could have more understanding about each part that was going on,” Tickiqlong told CTV News Edmonton. Kutryk’s Alberta roots only increased the excitement, Tickiqlong and others at the watch party said. Kutryk was born in Fort Saskatchewan and spent part of his childhood on a cattle farm in eastern Alberta. Part of his years as a fighter pilot were spent in Cold Lake in northern Alberta, where Tickiqlong grew up. “Cold Lake representation really matters because of the airspace training that they do there,” she said. “Seeing how thriving my community can be really matters because going from the ground all the way up to space, you never know what world or what the world has to give and offer to you.” That has also been the message delivered to six-year-old Victoria, who wore a spacesuit to the library on Thursday. “I hear her say, ‘I want to be an astronaut. Can I be an astronaut?’ I say, ‘Yes, you can. You have to work very hard and study a lot,’” her mother Maria Desbiens said. “We were at the space science centre, the observatory, a couple of weeks ago to watch the moon.… It was really nice to see her using the telescope and just pretending she was in a spaceship.” Organizers said they wanted to foster that inspiration, as well as lifelong learning and community spirit. “It’s so exciting to give people that wow experience because that’s also one of the things that jump starts learning,” said the library’s associate manager, Jessica Niemi. Kutryk is the second Canadian this year to go to space after Jeremy Hanson was part of the 10-day lunar mission called Artemis II. Crew-13 is headed to the International Space Station (ISS) for six months, during which they’ll conduct medical and agriculture research. “This has just been a fantastic year for Canadian space exploration. Getting two astronauts in the same year is a really big deal for us,” said TWOSE science specialist Joel Weatherly. “This is exciting – not just for me as a big space enthusiast, but for lots of people. Whether you’re interested in space or interested in health medicine or anything like that, the ISS touches many different walks of life, and getting to see people doing amazing things is always exciting.” With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Evan Kenny and Darcy Seaton
