Astronauts Jenni Gibbons and Joshua Kutryk were officially assigned Wednesday to the Artemis II lunar mission and to spend six months aboard the International Space Station, respectively.
Jenni Gibbons has been designated as backup astronaut for the Artemis II mission and will be ready to put on her compatriot Jeremy Hansen’s suit if the latter is unable to go. She will therefore undergo exactly the same training as him and will at the same time participate in the development of the mission and the development of astronaut training for lunar missions.
The Artemis II mission, which will launch no earlier than November 2024, must travel to the Moon and orbit it without landing in order to put the Orion spacecraft’s systems to the test. The next mission, Artemis III, will land on the Moon.
Joshua Kutryk will participate in the first manned flight of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner capsule to the International Space Station. He will remain in the manned satellite for six months to carry out various experiments and maintain the station.
Joshua Kutryk will be the fourth Canadian astronaut to complete a long-term stay aboard the space station and the first to do so as part of a NASA manned commercial mission.
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