Canada’s two newest astronauts graduated from the rigorous NASA Artemis program and have set their sights on becoming the first Canadians on the moon. Jenni Sidey-Gibbons and Joshua Kutryk were among a graduating class of 11 new spacefarers who will ride a new wave of space exploration that could even see them going to Mars. “Just the thought of the day when we might see a Canadian flag on the moon is something that excites me like nothing else,” says Kutryk in a video produced by the Canadian Space Agency. “That day is coming.”
The two year course was taught by fellow Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, who has not yet gone to space. David St. Jacques, who became an astronaut at the same time as Hansen in 2009, recently returned from the International Space Station. Hansen could fly as early as 2022 and could be among the first pilots of the next generation of U.S.-made crew vehicles.