CSA astronaut Joshua Kutryk reflects on first spacewalk
In a space-to-Earth connection earlier today, Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Joshua Kutryk shared insights from his career-first spacewalk, conducted on . Joshua and NASA astronaut Anil Menon spent 7 hours and 11 minutes installing a new solar array that will help the Station generate more power. The pair is scheduled to conduct additional spacewalk on to install another array, completing upgrade work that began in .
“Yesterday was a wonderful experience,” Joshua said. “To be on the end of Space Station, looking down, watching the world whirl by as a globe – it's hard to put into words. I feel very lucky to have seen it.” He also highlighted the incredible support from an extensive team both in space and on the ground, including fellow Canadians: CSA astronaut Jenni Gibbons as capcom; robotics operators working from both CSA and NASA mission control centres; and Canadarm2, which assisted the spacewalkers throughout the operations.
Joshua reflected on his experience during a press conference hosted by CSA astronaut David Saint-Jacques and attended by the Honourable Eleanor Olszewski, Minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience and Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada.
Joshua is now only the fifth CSA astronaut in history to have conducted a spacewalk, following Chris Hadfield, Steve MacLean, Dave Williams, and David Saint-Jacques.