A family doctor working in a remote northern Ontario town, a Toronto-based artist-slash-scientist and a whole bunch of engineers have made the shortlist to become one of Canada’s next astronauts.
The Canadian Space Agency released its list of 72 candidates on Wednesday chosen from 3,772 applications submitted last August.
Of the dozens of hopefuls, just two will get the coveted job.
Among the group are 23 women, and the majority of candidates have backgrounds in engineering, medicine or the military. The group also includes 24 candidates based outside Canada, from Germany to the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, Calif.
Despite their breadth of backgrounds, the candidates have a few things in common. Applicants are required to have a bachelor's degree in engineering or science or a doctorate in medicine or dentistry, 20/20 vision and be in excellent health. They also must weigh between 110 and 209 pounds and stand between 4-foot-11 and 6-foot-3.
Bios of the hopefuls, posted on the Space Agency’s website, tell stories of academic excellence, physical prowess and, for many, a lifelong fascination with the cosmos.
“I fell in love with the sky growing up on a farm in The Land of The Living Skies (Saskatchewan, of course),” wrote Jason Leuschen, a student pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force. “Evenings in the field, without an artificial light in sight, I was held in rapture by the Milky Way, the northern lights and the moon … I have wanted to be an astronaut, to get a little closer to the heavens, ever since.”
Others plugged their research interests. Evan Thomas, a Montreal-born associate professor of mechanical engineering and public health at Portland State University, said access to clean water, sanitation and reliable energy are problems both on the International Space Station and on Earth.
“I want to be an astronaut because the International Space Station is both a research and development platform and a global pulpit for tangible, impactful collaborations that can simultaneously further space exploration while addressing chronic challenges on Earth,” Thomas wrote.
Alexandre Cooper-Roy, a postdoctoral researcher in atomic physics from Quebec City, said he wants to be an astronaut to contribute to science and research that will one day allow for a self-sustainable human colony on another planet.
“I am thrilled by the challenge of working aboard the International Space Station and collaborating with our international partners to land the first humans on Mars,” he wrote.
Canada has recruited 12 astronauts since 1983, eight of whom have journeyed to space.
