Joshua Kutryk (born March 21, 1982) is a

Canadian astronaut The Canadian Astronaut Corps is a unit of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) that selects, trains, and provides astronauts as crew members for U.S. and Russian space missions. The corps has four active members, able to serve on the International Spac ...

, engineer, and pilot. He was selected by the

Canadian Space Agency The Canadian Space Agency (CSA; french: Agence spatiale canadienne, ASC) is the national space agency of Canada, established in 1990 by the ''Canadian Space Agency Act''. The president is Lisa Campbell, who took the position on September 3, 2020 ...

(CSA) one of the two members of the 2017 CSA Group alongside

Jenni Sidey Jennifer Anne MacKinnon "Jenni" Sidey-Gibbons (born August 3, 1988) is a Canadian astronaut, engineer, and academic. She was selected by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) as one of the two members of the 2017 CSA Group alongside Joshua Kutryk. Earl ...

Early life and education

Joshua Kutryk was born on March 21, 1982, in Fort Saskatchewan,

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. His family emigrated to Canada from

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

in 1910. He graduated from the

Royal Military College of Canada '') , established = 1876 , type = Military academy , chancellor = Anita Anand ('' la, ex officio, label=none'' as Defence Minister) , principal = Harry Kowal , head_label ...

in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...

. He subsequently completed a master's degree in space studies at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2009, a master's degree in flight test engineering at the Air University in 2012, and a master's degree in defence studies at the

in 2014.

Career

Prior to joining the

(CSA), Kutryk was an experimental test pilot and a fighter pilot in the

Canadian Armed Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...

(CAF) in Cold Lake, Alberta, where he was the head of the unit in charge of flight-testing fighter aircraft. He earned the rank of

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

. Kutryk was most notably responsible for the testing of new aircraft technologies on the CF-18 plane. Kutryk had served in

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

during his time in CAF. In 2012, he received the Liethen-Title Award for the top test pilot graduate from the

U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School The U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School (USAF TPS) is the Air Force's advanced flight training school that trains experimental test pilots, flight test engineers, and flight test flight officer, navigators to carry out tests and evaluations of new ...

. This award was also conferred to his fellow astronaut

Chris Hadfield Chris Austin Hadfield (born August 29, 1959) is a Canadian retired astronaut, engineer, fighter pilot, and musician. The first Canadian to perform extravehicular activity in outer space, he has flown two Space Shuttle missions and also serv ...

in 1988.

CSA selection and astronaut career

Kutryk was selected by the

to undergo training as an astronaut as part of the 2017 CSA Group, the fourth Canadian astronaut recruitment campaign. Kutryk and Dr.

were selected among a large field of qualified candidates. Kutryk had previously applied to become an astronaut in the 2009 CSA selection, where astronauts

David Saint-Jacques David Saint-Jacques ( , ; born January 6, 1970) is a Canadian astronaut with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). He is also an astrophysicist, engineer, and a physician. In December 2018, he launched to the International Space Station, as Flight ...

and Jeremy Hansen were selected. Kutryk was shortlisted to undergo a yearlong testing program and ultimately found himself in the top 16 finalists of some 5,350 candidates. His perseverance in successfully applying again in 2017 is highlighted on the CSA website. As of July 2017, Kutryk has relocated to

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, to start the two-year NASA Astronaut Candidate Training Program at the

Johnson Space Center The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is NASA's center for human spaceflight (originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center), where human spaceflight training, research, and flight control are conducted. It was renamed in honor of the late U ...

. He is a member of the 2017 NASA astronaut class.yaa In September 2019 Kutryk participated, as a Cavenauts, in the training ESA CAVES organized by the

European Space Agency , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (1205 ...

between

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

References

External links

CSA profile

CSA Biography on YouTube

Instagram Profile

Twitter Profile

CSA Video Gallery

CSA Photo Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kutryk, Joshua 1982 births Air University (United States Air Force) alumni Canadian astronauts Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University alumni Living people Canadian people of Ukrainian descent People from Fort Saskatchewan Royal Military College of Canada alumni Scientists from Alberta U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School alumni