Canadian astronaut prepares for NASA mission to International Space Station
Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk is preparing for a six-month mission to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX Crew 13. The mission focuses on medical research, using the microgravity environment to study human health issues like heart disease and bone density.
Why it matters
Space-based medical research offers unique insights into human aging and disease that can lead to significant breakthroughs for treatments on Earth.
Growing up on a cattle farm in eastern Alberta, Joshua Kutryk says he dreamt of going to space though he never thought it would happen.
But a few months after Artemis II’s lunar flyby, the 44-year-old is preparing for a mission to the International Space Station that could lead to medical breakthroughs.
Kutryk is one of four members assigned to NASA’s SpaceX Crew 13 mission.
He will join NASA’s Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov. Watkins will be returning to the space station for the second time.
The crew will spend six months at the station to conduct experiments and maintenance work.
The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying the crew is expected to take off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, in Florida, on Sept. 12.
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