What to know
- Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk is heading to the International Space Station for a six-month mission.
- NASA’s Crew-13 mission is scheduled to launch Thursday, Oct. 1, at 11:10 a.m. ET from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
- Kutryk will travel aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft with NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney and Russian cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov.
- NASA’s Crew-13 astronauts will conduct research on the International Space Station focused on areas including heart disease, Parkinson’s disease, crop production and astronaut health, while testing technologies that could support future Moon and Mars missions.
- Joshua Kutryk is a Canadian Space Agency astronaut and former CF-18 fighter pilot who will serve as a Mission Specialist on Crew-13, becoming the first Canadian astronaut to participate in NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
Months after Jeremy Hansen became the first Canadian astronaut to go on a moon mission, another Canadian astronaut is heading to space for a six-month mission at the International Space Station (ISS).
NASA’s Crew-13 mission to the ISS is launching on Thursday, Oct. 1, at 11:10 a.m. ET from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Four astronauts will board the SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft for the mission, including Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Joshua Kutryk, Russian cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov, and NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney.
The mission’s launch will be live streamed at NASA’s website and YouTube channel on Thursday.
What is NASA’s Crew-13 mission about?
According to NASA, the four crew members are heading to the ISS to join the station’s Expedition 75 crew and spend about six months performing research, supporting maintenance of the orbiting laboratory, and working on technology demonstrations. The experiments supported by the crew are meant to help advance technology for future Moon and Mars missions and improve life on Earth.
After a quick handover once Crew-13 arrives, NASA’s Space X Crew-12, which launched on Feb. 13, will prepare to return to Earth.
“During the mission, the crew will help researchers treat heart disease and Parkinson’s disease by studying human stem-cell derived tissues that can help improve medicine, disease modeling, and pharmaceutical testing,” NASA’s Low Earth Orbit Program Manager at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston Dana Weigel said in a statement on NASA’s website.
“They also will explore crop production, which is important for longer-duration spaceflight missions, help us better understand blood flow abnormalities that we see in space, and test new diagnostic medical equipment for monitoring crew health.”
Who is Joshua Kutryk?
CSA astronaut Joshua Kutryk will be a part of the Crew-13 mission as a Mission Specialist, assisting with spacecraft operations, scientific research, and maintenance on the ISS. He will become the first CSA astronaut to be a part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
Kutryk was born on Mar. 21, 1982 in Fort Saskatchewan, Alta. He has a Bachelor in mechanical engineering, and master’s degrees in space studies, flight test engineering and defense studies.
He was recruited by the CSA in July 2017, and received his official title of astronaut in 2020 after graduating from Astronaut Candidate Training. In that same year, he was appointed Operations Officer for the NASA Astronaut Office in Texas and became certified as a capcom for the ISS.
Prior to joining the CSA, he served as a CF-18 fighter pilot to support Canada’s NATO, U.N., and North American Aerospace Defense Command commitments. He also worked as an experimental and operational test pilot at the Aerospace Engineering Test Establishment in Cold Lake, Alta.
In a CSA post on Instagram, Kutryk said it has always been his dream to go to space, and thanked family, friends, and the CSA for their support.
“It is with great pride and humility that I will represent Canada during this mission. I’m very proud of our country’s history in space,” he said.
NASA’s Crew-13 mission comes months after Jeremy Hansen became the first Canadian astronaut to participate in a moon mission.
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Hansen was a part of the Artemis II mission, the first crewed mission to fly around the moon to build “durable lunar presence” and open the path to explore Mars. The mission launched on April 1 and the crew returned to Earth on April 10.
