David Saint-Jacques ( , ; born January 6, 1970)
is a Canadian
astronaut
An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally ...
with the
Canadian Space Agency (CSA). He is also an
astrophysicist,
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the lim ...
, and a
physician.
In December 2018, he launched to the
International Space Station, as Flight Engineer on Expeditions
57,
58 and
59; he returned to Earth on June 25, 2019.
Astronaut career
Saint-Jacques was selected in May 2009 by the
Canadian Space Agency (CSA) as one of two
CSA astronaut positions, after a long process selection attended by 5,351 candidates, and moved to
Houston to be one of 14 members of the
20th NASA astronaut class.
He then graduated from
Astronaut Candidate Training that included
scientific
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence f ...
and
technical briefings, intensive instruction in
International Space Station systems,
extravehicular activity (EVA),
robotics,
physiological training,
T-38 flight training,
Russian language and water and wilderness
survival training
Survival training is a theoretical and physical practice where participants aim to survive in the wilderness with as little means as possible. Survival training is used to teach survival skills or as a form of recreational activity in which indivi ...
. Since graduation, he has been assigned to the Robotics Branch of the
Astronaut Office
The NASA Astronaut Corps is a unit of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) that selects, trains, and provides astronauts as crew members for U.S. and international space missions. It is based at Johnson Space Ce ...
.
NEEMO 15
On September 19, 2011,
NASA announced that Saint-Jacques would serve as an
aquanaut
An aquanaut is any person who remains underwater, breathing at the ambient pressure for long enough for the concentration of the inert components of the breathing gas dissolved in the body tissues to reach equilibrium, in a state known as satura ...
aboard the
Aquarius
Aquarius may refer to:
Astrology
* Aquarius (astrology), an astrological sign
* Age of Aquarius, a time period in the cycle of astrological ages
Astronomy
* Aquarius (constellation)
* Aquarius in Chinese astronomy
Arts and entertainment ...
underwater laboratory during the
NEEMO 15 undersea exploration mission from October 17–30, 2011.
Delayed by stormy weather and high seas, the mission began on October 20, 2011.
On the afternoon of October 21, Saint-Jacques and his crewmates officially became aquanauts, having spent over 24 hours underwater. NEEMO 15 ended early on October 26 due to the approach of
Hurricane Rina.
CAVES 2013
In 2013, Saint-Jacques served as cavenaut into the
ESA CAVES training in
Sardinia, alongside
Soichi Noguchi
is a Japanese aeronautical engineer and former JAXA astronaut. His first spaceflight was as a Mission Specialist aboard STS-114 on 26 July 2005 for NASA's first "return to flight" Space Shuttle mission after the ''Columbia'' disaster. He was ...
,
Andreas Mogensen,
Nikolai Tikhonov,
Andrew Feustel and
Michael Fincke.
Expeditions 57/58/59
In May 2016 Saint-Jacques was selected as a member of ISS
Expedition 58/
59, which at the time was scheduled to start in November 2018.
On 3 December 2018, Saint-Jacques launched to the ISS on board
Soyuz MS-11
Soyuz MS-11 was a Soyuz spaceflight that launched on 3 December 2018, marking the 100th orbital launch of the year. Originally scheduled for 20 December, the launch date was advanced to 3 December following the failure of Soyuz MS-10. MS-11 was ...
, alongside commander
Oleg Kononenko and fellow flight engineer
Anne McClain
Anne Charlotte McClain (born June 7, 1979) is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, engineer and a NASA astronaut.
Her call sign, "Annimal", dates back to her bruising rugby days; she also uses the call sign in her Twitter handle, AstroAnnimal ...
.
He became a member of the
Expedition 57 crew for two weeks before transferring to Expedition 58, which officially started on 20 December 2018 when the
Expedition 57 crew left the station. Saint-Jacques, Kononenko and McClain subsequently transferred to Expedition 59 on 14 March 2019 with the arrival of
Soyuz MS-12.
On April 8, 2019, Saint-Jacques conducted his first
spacewalk
Extravehicular activity (EVA) is any activity done by an astronaut in outer space outside a spacecraft. In the absence of a breathable atmosphere of Earth, Earthlike atmosphere, the astronaut is completely reliant on a space suit for environmen ...
, becoming the fourth Canadian astronaut to take part in an and the first to do so in 12 years. The spacewalk lasted roughly seven hours.
Saint-Jacques, McClain and Kononenko returned to Earth on board Soyuz MS-11 on June 24, 2019.
Education and earlier career
Saint-Jacques holds a
BEng in
Engineering Physics from the
École polytechnique de Montréal
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France
* École, Savo ...
, an affiliated college of
Université de Montréal, where he graduated in 1993.
He later graduated in 1998 with a
PhD in
astrophysics
Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the he ...
,
[;]
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from the
Cavendish Astrophysics Group
The Cavendish Astrophysics Group (formerly the Radio Astronomy Group) is based at the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge. The group operates all of the telescopes at the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory except for the 32m MERLI ...
at the
University of Cambridge. Saint-Jacques completed
postdoctoral research
A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to p ...
at the
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan between 1999–2001 where he worked on the development and application of the
Mitaka Infrared Interferometer in Japan and the
Subaru Telescope Adaptive Optics System in
Hawaii.
He also holds a
Doctor of Medicine from
Université Laval completed in 2005 and completed a
Family medicine residency
Residency may refer to:
* Domicile (law), the act of establishing or maintaining a residence in a given place
** Permanent residency, indefinite residence within a country despite not having citizenship
* Residency (medicine), a stage of postgrad ...
at
McGill University (2007) (
specializing in
first-line,
isolated
Isolation is the near or complete lack of social contact by an individual.
Isolation or isolated may also refer to:
Sociology and psychology
*Isolation (health care), various measures taken to prevent contagious diseases from being spread
**Is ...
medical practice
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...
).
His broad scientific background includes
engineering,
astrophysics
Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the he ...
and medical training, with international experience in France and Hungary for engineering study and
Lebanon and
Guatemala for medical study.
Saint-Jacques is affiliated with the Collège des médecins du Québec, the
College of Family Physicians of Canada,
Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec
The Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec (OIQ) is the self-regulatory body that governs Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (wi ...
,
International Society for Optical Engineering
SPIE (formerly the Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers, later the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers) is an international not-for-profit professional society for optics and photonics technology, founded in 1955. It ...
, and the
Cambridge Philosophical Society as a Life Fellow.
Saint-Jacques began his career in 1996 as a
biomedical engineer
Biomedicine (also referred to as Western medicine, mainstream medicine or conventional medicine) at the Quebec firm Electromed with secondment to
Lariboisière Hospital, working on the design of
radiological equipment for
angiography
Angiography or arteriography is a medical imaging technique used to visualize the inside, or lumen, of blood vessels and organs of the body, with particular interest in the arteries, veins, and the heart chambers. Modern angiography is perfor ...
and
image analysis algorithm
In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific problems or to perform a computation. Algorithms are used as specifications for performing ...
s of cineangiography.
During 1994–1998, his studies included
theoretical work on
astronomical observation
Observational astronomy is a division of astronomy that is concerned with recording data about the observable universe, in contrast with theoretical astronomy, which is mainly concerned with calculating the measurable implications of physical ...
and design, fabrication and commissioning of instruments for the
Cambridge Optical Aperture Synthesis Telescope
COAST, the Cambridge Optical Aperture Synthesis Telescope, is a multi-element optical astronomical interferometer with baselines of up to 100 metres, which uses aperture synthesis to observe stars with angular resolution as high as one thousan ...
and for the
William Herschel Telescope in the
Canary Islands.
During the course of this research under
supervisor John E. Baldwin he made several trips abroad on sponsorship from the
Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council
The Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) was one of a number of research councils in the United Kingdom. It directed, coordinated and funded research in particle physics and astronomy for the people of the UK. Its head office w ...
, the
Cavendish Astrophysics Group
The Cavendish Astrophysics Group (formerly the Radio Astronomy Group) is based at the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge. The group operates all of the telescopes at the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory except for the 32m MERLI ...
,
Corpus Christi College and the
Cambridge Philosophical Society, and decided to pursue
further research experience in Japan.
In 2001, he joined the Astrophysics group at the
Department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
de
physique,
Université de Montréal.
Prior to joining the
Canadian Space Program, Saint-Jacques was a
medical doctor and the Co-chief of Medicine at Inuulitsivik Health Centre in
Puvirnituq, Quebec since 2007. He also worked as a
Clinic
A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambulatory care clinic) is a health facility that is primarily focused on the care of outpatients. Clinics can be privately operated or publicly managed and funded. They typically cover the primary care need ...
al
Faculty Lecturer for
McGill University's Faculty of Medicine, supervising
medical trainees in
Nunavik.
Personal life
Saint-Jacques was born in
Quebec City and raised in Montreal. Saint-Jacques is married to Dr. Véronique Morin and has three children. He is a lifelong mountaineer, hiker, cyclist, skier, and sailor.
He also holds a
commercial pilot license A commercial pilot licence (CPL) is a type of pilot licence that permits the holder to act as a pilot of an aircraft and be paid for their work.
Different licenses are issued for the major aircraft categories: airplanes, airships, balloons, gli ...
.
He is fluent in French and English, and has a basic understanding of Russian, Spanish and Japanese.
Academic distinctions
*"1967" Science and Engineering Scholarship,
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) (1994–1998)
*Cambridge Commonwealth Trust Honorary Scholar (1994–1998)
*United Kingdom Overseas Research Student Award (1994–1998)
*Postdoctoral Fellowship, Japan Society for Promotion of Science (1999–2001)
*Scholarship,
Canada Millennium (2001–2005)
*
Doctorat ''Honoris Causa'',
École polytechnique de Montréal
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France
* École, Savo ...
of
Université de Montréal (2010)
Honors and awards
* Fellow of the
Royal Canadian Geographical Society
The Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS; French: ''Société géographique royale du Canada'') is a Canadian nonprofit educational organization dedicated to imparting a broader knowledge and deeper appreciation of Canada—its people ...
* Gold Medal of the
Royal Canadian Geographical Society
The Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS; French: ''Société géographique royale du Canada'') is a Canadian nonprofit educational organization dedicated to imparting a broader knowledge and deeper appreciation of Canada—its people ...
* Special distinction from the
Collège des médecins du Québec
* Officier of the
National Order of Quebec
The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as ''l'Ordre national du Québec'', and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is an order of merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Govern ...
(2020)
References
External links
Astronaut Candidate Bio: David Saint-Jacques (09/2009)*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint-Jacques, David
1970 births
Living people
Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Aquanauts
Canadian astronauts
Physicians from Quebec
Physician astronauts
French Quebecers
People from Quebec City
People from Saint-Lambert, Quebec
Université Laval alumni
Université de Montréal alumni
Cambridge Commonwealth Trust Scholars
Commercial aviators
Spacewalkers