National Astronaut Recruitment Campaign

Fact Sheet of the National Astronaut Recruitment Campaign (NARC)


Campaign launch	May 2008
Organization	Canadian Space Agency
Applications received and screened	5,351
Objective	Selection of the two newest members of the Canadian Astronaut Corps to represent Canada in future space exploration missions.
Preliminary interviews	79 candidates
Robotics, flight operation and physical tests	39 candidates Saint-Hubert, QC and Saint-Jean, QC January 19-23, 2009
Survival tests	31 candidates Halifax, NS and Dartmouth, NS February 17-20, 2009
Medical and psychological exams	16 candidates Average age: 36 (candidates range in ages from 26 to 40) Toronto, ON March 16-20, 2009
Announcement of the two successful candidates	May 2009
Provinces represented by the Top 16 candidates	Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia
NARC partners in the evaluation process:	Department of National Defence: Canadian Forces medical clinics in Halifax, Downsview, Ottawa, Bagotville, Edmonton, Cold Lake, Winnipeg, Kandahar, and Esquimalt 5 Area Support Group Command Support Unit, Saint-Jean Garrison, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC *Canadian Forces Naval Engineering School, Damage Control Division, Halifax, NS Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC), Toronto, ON Survival Systems Training Limited, Dartmouth, NS North York General Hospital, Toronto, ON Lifelabs, Toronto, ON
1983: The first group of Canadian Space Agency Astronauts	Roberta Bondar, Marc Garneau, Steve MacLean, Ken Money, Robert Thirsk and Bjarni Tryggvason
1992: The second group of Canadian Space Agency Astronauts	Chris Hadfield, Julie Payette, Dave Williams and Mike Mackay