Astronaut chooses small-town Saskatchewan bison jerky to take to international space station

Trails End Buffalo Stix in the packaging stage at the Saskatchewan Food Industry Development Centre. (Julien Lecacheur/Radio-Canada - image credit) Like most people who get an email addressed from NASA, Shianna Smart thought it was a scam.

"I was unsure if it was real at first. I was hesitant but then we got to talking with them and got more information, it was exciting," the co-owner of Trails End Buffalo Stix, based in Gull Lake in southwestern Saskatchewan, said in an interview with Radio Canada.

She learned that Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk has selected the bison jerky from her brand to munch on for the NASA-SpaceX mission to the International Space Station which leaves on Oct. 1, pending final approval.

In 2013, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield had already snacked on the Saskatchewan bison jerky sticks in orbit, while the business was under previous ownership.