My name is David Saint-Jacques. I’m an astronaut for the Canadian Space Agency.
I was born in Quebec City, and I grew up in Montreal.
I have two brothers. Dad was a professor of physics
and Mom was a history and literature teacher and big travellers.
So I spent a lot of my youth travelling with my parents
and constantly being challenged by my parents to read
and learn more about everything.
When I was a young child, I saw one of those photos of the Earth
seen from the Moon,
and it really struck me as an example of adventure in the 20th century,
you know, encouraging me to stay fit, learn languages, travel,
study and just grab every opportunity I could to make myself better.
I started out studying engineering, like my father and my grandfather before me,
and I worked a couple of years as an engineer.
And I moved on, and I became an astronomer.
And I went to graduate school, did a PhD.
And I worked as an astrophysicist for several years
and had the change to work with teams from all around the world,
all in pursuit of this beautiful study of the heavens above us.
And then I moved on again, and I became a doctor, a family doctor,
and I practised up North in Nunavik in northern Quebec,
and that was a great human experience for me,
a nice way to kind of mix a sense of adventure
and discovery while doing something really worthwhile,
practically, being a physician and helping people stay healthy.
I heard from a colleague that they were recruiting astronauts,
and for me, it’s as if the world stopped for a second.
I could hear the voice of a little boy at the back of my head going,
“Oh, come on David, you’ve got to try, at least try!”
these old souvenirs came back to me, and I thought, okay, yeah,
I’ve got to make an effort to apply for this process and just give it a chance.
One of the main challenges in the selection process I found was that it was so long,
so drawn out — a whole year of tests.
It was really a challenge in and of itself to stay focussed on it.
And we’re basically tested on anything you can test someone on — first, medical
testing, of course, flying potential, reaction to stress, teamwork, public speaking —
all these varied skills that you kind of need to have to be a good astronaut.
One of the guiding principles of my life has always been to broaden my horizons,
to expand my understanding and to maybe be able to then turn around and teach
what I understand to the younger people. And I think as an astronaut
I have this chance to broaden my horizons to the whole planet, and that’s really
I’m looking forward to have that consciousness practically in my soul of what
the world looks like seen from outside. And I think that will help me better understand
who we are as humans and the way we should lead our lives.
David Saint-Jacques: Okay, so I’ve stowed the new DDCU to the CETA cart.
Male Speaker: Copy.
David Saint-Jacques: So that is secured by an adjustable on the zenith handrail of the CETA cart.