Astronauts Jenni Gibbons and Joshua Kutryk were officially assigned Wednesday to the Artemis II lunar mission and a six-month stay aboard the International Space Station, respectively.
Jenni Gibbons has been designated as a backup astronaut for the Artemis II mission and will be ready to don her compatriot Jeremy Hansen’s suit if he is unable to fly. She will therefore undergo exactly the same training as him, while also participating 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 to test the Orion spacecraft’s systems. The next mission, Artemis III, will land on the Moon.
Joshua Kutryk will take part in the first manned flight of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner capsule to the International Space Station. He will stay in the manned satellite for six months to conduct 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 on a NASA manned commercial mission.