Canadians in Space

Marc Garneau

Marc Garneau (born 23 February 1949 in Québec City, QC). In 1984, Marc Garneau became the first Canadian astronaut to go to space. His first mission was STS-41G aboard the American space shuttle Challenger. During this mission, Garneau tested the space vision system designed to provide eyes to the Canadarm, the robotic arm of the shuttle. Garneau would serve in two other space missions, STS-77 aboard the Endeavour in 1996 and STS-97, also on the Endeavour, in 2000.

Roberta Bondar

Roberta Lynn Bondar (born 4 December 1945 in Sault Ste Marie, ON). Bondar was among the first group of Canadian astronauts recruited by the National Research Council of Canada in 1983. She became the first Canadian woman and second Canadian in space when she flew aboard the American space shuttle Discovery in 1992.

Steve MacLean

Steven (Steve) Glenwood MacLean (born 14 December 1954 in Ottawa, ON). In 1992, MacLean became the third Canadian to fly in space, serving on mission STS-52 aboard the Columbia space shuttle. In September 2006, he travelled to space for the second time, serving as mission specialist for Mission STS-115 aboard the Atlantis. During the mission, MacLean became the first Canadian to operate Canadarm2.

Chris Hadfield

Chris Austin Hadfield (born 29 August 1959 in Sarnia, ON). Hadfield has served on three space missions. His first mission was STS-74 aboard the space shuttle Atlantis. During the mission, Hadfield became the first Canadian to operate the Canadarm in orbit. Hadfield returned to space for mission STS-100 and became the first Canadian to perform a spacewalk. In 2012, Hadfield joined his final space mission, Expedition 34/45. During the second half of his five-month assignment, Hadfield became the first Canadian commander of the International Space Station (ISS).

Robert Thirsk

Robert (Bob) Brent Thirsk (born 17 August 1953 in New Westminster, BC). Thirsk served aboard the space shuttle Columbia for mission STS-78, the Life and Microgravity Spacelab (LMS) mission. Thirsk and the space shuttle crew completed 43 experiments during the 16-day mission. Thirsk’s second space mission was Expedition 20/21 in 2009. As part of this mission, he and his crewmates were launched to the ISS. Thirsk was on board the ISS for six months, making him the first Canadian astronaut to take part in a long-duration mission.

Bjarni Tryggvason

Bjarni Valdimar Tryggvason (born 21 September 1945 in Reykjavik, Iceland; died 5 April 2022 in London, ON). Tryggvason was one of six Canadians admitted into the Canadian Astronaut Program in 1983 (see Canadian Space Agency). In 1997, he served as a payload specialist aboard the Discovery space shuttle on the STS-85 mission. The space shuttle orbited the Earth 185 times, covering 4.7 million miles (7.56 million km).

Dave Williams

Dafydd (Dave) Rhys Williams (born 16 May 1954 in Saskatoon, SK). In 1998, Williams served in the space mission STS-90 aboard the space shuttle Columbia. During the mission, he orbited the Earth 256 times and assisted in 26 experiments. In 2007, Williams participated in the STS-118 mission and travelled on the space shuttle Endeavour to the ISS.

Julie Payette

Julie Payette (born 20 October 1963 in Montreal, QC). Payette served on two space missions and spent over 611 hours in space. Payette took part in her first space mission in 1999. During this mission (STS-96), she became the first Canadian to board the ISS. Payette would travel to the ISS a second time in 2009 as part of the space flight mission STS-127.

David Saint-Jacques

David Saint-Jacques (born 6 January 1970, in Québec City, QC). Saint-Jacques completed his astronaut training in 2011. As a crew member for Expedition 58/59, Saint-Jacques was aboard the ISS for 204 days. To date, this is the longest space mission of any Canadian astronaut.

Guy Laliberté

Guy Laliberté (born 2 September 1959 in St-Bruno, QC). Laliberté is widely recognized as the founder of Cirque du Soleil. He is also known as the first Canadian space tourist. In 2009, he flew to the ISS on the Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft with Expedition 21 from the Russian Federal Space Agency.

William Shatner

William Shatner (born 22 March 1931 in Montreal, QC). Shatner is perhaps best known for his role as Captain Kirk in the original Star Trek television series. In 2021, he participated in a suborbital spaceflight aboard the New Shepard, a spacecraft of the aerospace company, Blue Origin.

Mark Pathy

Mark Pathy (born 1969 in Montreal, QC). Pathy, an entrepreneur, made headlines for joining the AX-1 mission with Axiom Space in 2022. This privately operated crew mission sent Pathy and three other crew members to the ISS.