CSA astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Crew-13 meet with the press
On August 3 and 4, Canadian and international media convened at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas, to meet with the crew of NASA's SpaceX Crew-13 mission, including Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Colonel Joshua Kutryk.
The media days opened with a mission overview briefing where Mathieu Caron, Director, Astronauts, Life Sciences and Space Medicine represented the CSA. Later in the afternoon, the crew addressed the media at a press conference to talk about their training, the upcoming launch aboard Dragon and what to expect during the mission before doing individual interviews.
Joshua mentioned that he particularly looks forward to conducting several science experiments, especially the Canadian-led investigations that focus on human health. He also talked about the busy maintenance and operational schedule that awaits him during his six-month stay aboard the International Space Station, and how excited he is for his first spaceflight.
Building 9 at NASA's Johnson Space Center houses life-size mock-ups of the International Space Station. (Credit: CSA)
The second day, Canadian media were treated to a tour of the facilities in the company of Mathieu Caron. They visited life-size mock-ups of the Space Station, the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory where astronauts do spacewalk training, and the Space Station Mission Control Center where a few members of the Canadian robotics team stationed at JSC work. Together with other robotics specialists at CSA headquarters, they have been playing a key role in designing and will be supporting key robotics operations with both Canadarm2 and Dextre that will take place before, during and after the mission, including during spacewalks and cosmic catches.