Canadian Joshua Kutryk and Crew-13 astronauts set to launch to International Space Station
The crew for the upcoming NASA-SpaceX launch, from left: Canada's Joshua Kutryk, Russia's Sergey Teteryatnikov, NASA commander Jessica Watkins and NASA pilot Luke Delaney at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Saturday. (John Raoux/The Associated Press)I’m senior science reporter Nicole Mortillaro down here in Florida for Joshua Kutyrk's launch to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of NASA's Crew-13.
Not gonna lie: I'm a little sleep deprived after catching a shuttle from the press site to the New Center at 5:15 this morning, but the adrenaline is overriding everything else!
It's only been six months since Canada's Jeremy Hansen made history by flying around the moon. Now, it's Joshua Kutryk's turn to blast off into space.
Kutryk and three fellow astronauts are launching to the International Space Station (ISS) today in a joint NASA-Space X mission. The crew will be living and working on the ISS for roughly six months.
"I never, ever, ever, ever … thought that I would have this opportunity to go out on behalf of Canada and do a mission like this," Kutryk, the flight's Canadian astronaut, said during a media call on Wednesday.
The crew will blast off inside SpaceX's Crew Dragon from Cape Canaveral, Fla. The launch was postponed from Sept. 12 due to an issue with the spacecraft, but Kutryk has said he has faith the vehicle is ready to fly.
The Crew-13 launch, as it's called, also includes NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins, Luke Delaney and Russian cosmonaut Sergey Teteriatnikov.
The crew will join several astronauts who are already on station and will conduct several experiments, some of which are Canadian.
Heather Kutryk at this morning's walkout. (Shawn Benjamin/CBC)Being an astronaut sounds pretty cool to some people (count me in!), but let’s not forget the challenges that come with that.
You’re training for years, oftentimes with long hours and trips around the world. You also are waiting to find out when your mission will come up. It takes a lot of patience and drive.
But then, finally, comes the day: Launch day.
Imagine leaving everything you have ever known behind, especially your loved ones.
Joshua Kutryk may be blasting off to live a dream, but he’s also leaving his wife — who is pregnant — and two children behind as he embarks on a dangerous mission.
It's t-minus two days before Alberta-born astronaut Joshua Kutryk heads to the International Space Station (ISS) in a joint NASA-SpaceX mission. Kutryk and his crew will join several astronauts who are already on the station and conduct experiments, some of which are Canadian.
As the crew prepared for launch this week, they got to spend time with their families who were quarantining along with them in a hotel in Cape Canaveral, Fla.
Heather Kutryk, Joshua Kutryk's wife, says she and the couple's two children, Anna, 5, and Peter, 7, have been enjoying trips to the beach with their dad before his six-month space odyssey.
"It's just good quality family time leading up to the launch and I'm grateful for that," said Kutryk.
Kutryk is pregnant and due to give birth in November during Joshua's mission. She said she isn't stressed about the delivery because of the strong community and support she has around her.
"It was a bit of a surprise — not exactly planned, but you know, it's a great thing," she said, laughing.
The family has lived in Houston since 2017, with Joshua training and preparing for this launch for years. He's undergone intense physical training, learned Russian and travelled to Los Angeles, Europe, Japan and Russia in preparation, his wife said.
Anna and Peter also seem to be taking their father's departure in stride, although Peter has had his moments, his mother said.
"Both Josh and Peter have a really special bond. So, I think it's hitting him a little bit harder. Anna, she's just independent. She's very strong-willed and she's just kind of like, 'All right, I'll see you later, Dad. We're good!'"
Kutryk, too, says she feels OK about her husband's departure because it's been years in the making.
Still, she said, "maybe it'll hit me when he's actually gone, but so far I feel like we're going to be great."
NASA has announced that Expedition 75, the next crew to go to the International Space Station, will include Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk. Kutryk, NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov will spend several months aboard the ISS.
Kutryk was born on March 21, 1982, in Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., where he was raised on a cattle farm. His interests include backcountry skiing, mountaineering, cycling and paragliding (sounds like he really likes being high up!).
He's been a test pilot, a fighter pilot and is still a colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force.
In 2017, he was recruited by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) alongside Jenni Gibbons, who served as Jeremy Hansen's backup for the Artemis II mission around the moon back in April.
He graduated from astronaut training in 2020 and was certified for capcom (short for "capsule communication," a term left over from the old NASA days) for the ISS.
He's trained in caves, which tests astronauts' physical and mental endurance needed for long-duration space missions, and participated in a lunar geology expedition at the Mistastin Lake Impact Crater in Labrador.
He was supposed to fly on Boeing's CST-100 Starliner capsule to the ISS; however Boeing has suffered major setbacks to their spacecraft. That mission will now be uncrewed. Instead, he's flying on the much-tested SpaceX Crew Dragon where he sits right now.
Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk, left, U.S. astronaut Luke Delaney, U.S. astronaut Jessica Watkins, and Russian cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov prepare to head to the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft in Cape Canaveral, Fla., this morning. (Marco Bello/AFP/Getty Images)Let's look at who makes up this Crew-13 launch.
First, the name Crew-13 comes from the fact that it's SpaceX's 13th mission to be launched since NASA restarted flights from U.S. soil, following years of relying on the Russian space agency (Roscosmos) to get astronauts to the ISS. This happened after NASA cancelled its space shuttle program in 2011.
While SpaceX and Boeing were both awarded contracts to build spacecraft to take astronauts to the ISS, so far only SpaceX has succeeded after Boeing suffered major setbacks.
There are two NASA astronauts on this mission. Jessica Watkins is the spacecraft commander, and Luke Delaney is the pilot.
Then there is Sergey Teteryatnikov from Roscosmos, who will be a mission specialist.
And finally, we have our own Joshua Kutryk of the Canadian Space Agency, who will also serve as a mission specialist.
This will be the first flight for not only Kutryk, but also Delaney and Teteryatnikov.
A Tesla vehicle awaits astronauts at the morning walkout. Three Teslas, including a Cybertruck, all had these same licence plates. (Shawn Benjamin/CBC)Before the crew head to their spacecraft for any mission, there is a traditional walkout from the quarantine building.
Fences are put up around the area where the press gathers, but there’s a special area for the families and their astronaut escorts, who are all in quarantine. NASA administrator Jared Isaacman arrived and briefly went into the quarantine facility.
There are a lot of photographers here, many of them old-timers who know the game and brought ladders to get the best view.
Three Tesla cars were onsite to take the astronauts and others to the pad, all of which had licence plates that read "LUCKY 13." Because…you know.
It was great to see Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques, who flew to the ISS in 2018, arrive with Kutyrk's daughter on his shoulders, while Kutryk's son and wife followed. His son pointed up towards the windows of the nearby building as NASA employees gathered at the windows.
NASA employees don't seem to take these launches for granted.
The Crew-13 astronauts soon walked out of the quarantine facility at 7:40 a.m., waving to the crowd and spending a few moments with their families.
Kutryk's wife Heather was visibly moved, appearing to hold back tears and turn her face away.
Eventually, the four astronauts entered their Teslas, and Joshua lowered his window as his son ran to give him a kiss.
It was an emotional experience for us all.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Dragon spacecraft on top, on the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 40 yesterday at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. (Joel Kowsky/NASA/Getty Images)At last update, weather officials with the U.S. Space Force 45th Weather Squadron predicted a 40 per cent chance of favourable conditions at the launch pad for liftoff.
There are a long list of weather criteria that must be met on launch day. NASA said this morning that the main concerns today are nearby cumulus clouds, cloud thickness and precipitation. Other non-weather related considerations need to be cleared before launch is ultimately given the green light.
The crew for the upcoming NASA-SpaceX launch, from left: Canada's Joshua Kutryk, Russia's Sergey Teteryatnikov, NASA commander Jessica Watkins and NASA pilot Luke Delaney at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Saturday. (John Raoux/The Associated Press)I’m senior science reporter Nicole Mortillaro down here in Florida for Joshua Kutyrk's launch to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of NASA's Crew-13.
Not gonna lie: I'm a little sleep deprived after catching a shuttle from the press site to the New Center at 5:15 this morning, but the adrenaline is overriding everything else!
It's only been six months since Canada's Jeremy Hansen made history by flying around the moon. Now, it's Joshua Kutryk's turn to blast off into space.
Kutryk and three fellow astronauts are launching to the International Space Station (ISS) today in a joint NASA-Space X mission. The crew will be living and working on the ISS for roughly six months.
"I never, ever, ever, ever … thought that I would have this opportunity to go out on behalf of Canada and do a mission like this," Kutryk, the flight's Canadian astronaut, said during a media call on Wednesday.
The crew will blast off inside SpaceX's Crew Dragon from Cape Canaveral, Fla. The launch was postponed from Sept. 12 due to an issue with the spacecraft, but Kutryk has said he has faith the vehicle is ready to fly.
The Crew-13 launch, as it's called, also includes NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins, Luke Delaney and Russian cosmonaut Sergey Teteriatnikov.
The crew will join several astronauts who are already on station and will conduct several experiments, some of which are Canadian.
