And the winners are...

It's the 150th anniversary of Confederation*, and although it's not officially part of the celebration, Prime Minister Trudeau chose Canada Day to announce the names of the two successful candidates in the recruiting process for Canada's next astronauts, chosen from 3,772 applicants over the course of a twelve-month selection process.

This process was designed to find the people with "the right skills and character to become Canada's next astronauts", to quote the Canadian Space Agency web site.

Candidates were subjected to an exhaustive array of tests:  medical, logic, intelligence, physical fitness, strategic thinking, critical reasoning, dexterity, resourcefulness, motivation, leadership and, in the final stages of the process, robotics, health and communications, followed by a final interview with a special committee of CSA executives, industry experts, and astronauts, both former and active.

And the winners are?  Joshua Kutryk and Jennifer "Jenni" Sidey, both originally from Alberta - Kutryk from Saskatchewan and Sidey from Calgary.

Sidey has worked as a combustion scientist and a mechanical engineer.  She has two degrees in engineering, including a Ph.D. from Cambridge. Kutryk, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Canadian Armed Forces, has been both a test pilot and a fighter pilot, and has degrees in mechanical engineering, space studies**, flight test engineering, and defense studies.

It's interesting to look at the stats from the start of the process.  It's not too surprising that the majority of the candidates were from Ontario and Quebec, but it's intriguing that Alberta had the third highest percentage of applications - British Columbia's population is 13% larger, but submitted almost 5% less applicants. Is there something about life on the prairies that makes people dream of space? Or something about life on the coast that makes them less eager for adventure?

The saddest statistic on this infographic is the total number of applications started versus the number completed.  I'd like to express my sympathy to the 4,021 people who started on the challenging path to space travel, but then discovered that it was a path that they could not follow. Dreamers, optimists, or just people who had one too many drinks - I feel for you during that moment that you decided that you weren't the right stuff.

My congratulations to Jennifer and Joshua for having the determination to follow their dream to success. Please remember that you're there for all of us - especially those 4,021 others.

- Sid

* Why do we not call ourselves the Confederation of Canada?  It has a nice "United Federation of Planets" sound to it.

** You can get a degree in Space Studies?   Apparently - although according to their website, it appears to be a minor.  http://catalog.erau.edu/daytona-beach/minors/space-studies/