Joshua KutrykCD (born March 21, 1982) is a Canadian astronaut, fighter pilot and engineer. He was selected by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) one of the two members of the 2017 CSA Group alongside Jenni Sidey.[1][2][3]
Early life and education
Joshua Kutryk was born on March 21, 1982, in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta. He lived in Fort Saskatchewan until his father retired from a career in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, when the family moved to a cattle farm near Beauvallon, Alberta.[4] He attended St. John XXIII Catholic School.[5] His family emigrated to Canada from Ukraine in 1910.[6]
Prior to joining the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Kutryk was an experimental test pilot and a fighter pilot in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) in Cold Lake, Alberta, where he was the head of the unit in charge of flight-testing fighter aircraft. He earned the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Kutryk was most notably responsible for the testing of new aircraft technologies on the CF-18 plane. Kutryk had served in Libya and Afghanistan during his time in CAF.
In 2012, he received the Liethen-Title Award for the top test pilot graduate from the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School. This award was also conferred to his fellow astronaut Chris Hadfield in 1988.[7]
CSA selection and astronaut career
Kutryk was selected by the Canadian Space Agency to undergo training as an astronaut as part of the 2017 CSA Group, the fourth Canadian astronaut recruitment campaign. Kutryk and Dr. Jenni Sidey were selected among a large field of qualified candidates.
Kutryk had previously applied to become an astronaut in the 2009 CSA selection, where astronauts David Saint-Jacques and Jeremy Hansen were selected. Kutryk was shortlisted to undergo a yearlong testing program and ultimately found himself in the top 16 finalists of some 5,350 candidates. His perseverance in successfully applying again in 2017 is highlighted on the CSA website.[7]