Canada’s two new astronauts to visit space agency near Montreal

LONGUEUIL, Que. – Canada’s two new astronauts will be getting a tour of the space agency near Montreal today.
Calgary’s Jennifer Sidey and Joshua Kutryk of Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., were named by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Saturday as the country marked its 150th birthday.
Sidey is a lecturer with the University of Cambridge who has worked as a mechanical engineer, while Kutryk is an air force pilot with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in defence studies.
Sidey, who will be 29 in August, says her dreams of becoming an astronaut date back to 1992 when Roberta Bondar went into space aboard the space shuttle Discovery.
A biography posted on the space agency’s website says Kutryk, 35, was fascinated with space as a child and that he said he knew his life would focus on helping to explore it.
Sidey and Kutryk will move to Houston this month to start a two-year training program.