A TRAINING PROGRAM OUT OF THIS WORLD!
With less than a year before his departure to the International Space Station, David Saint-Jacques will undergo a very rigorous training to prepare himself for his Expedition 58/59 mission.
It will soon be two years since Canada welcomed the official announcement that a Canadian Space Agency astronaut will be part of a crew that will go to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2018. In November of this year, Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques will launch aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket en route to the ISS.
With less than a year before his departure, this astronaut will have to follow a training program that will certainly be no easy ride! During the next few months, David Saint-Jacques will have to expand and consolidate all his skills acquired since the beginning of his astronaut training.
This intense training includes a rigorous physical segment combined with the use of a virtual reality helmet, for example. This helmet will simulate catastrophic scenarios, such as the breaking of the link that connects the astronaut to the ISS when he or she carries out a space walk! To prepare him for the zero gravity environment of space, he will spend up to 6 hours diving in a space suit in a pool and will use a meticulously calibrated ARGOS robot to compensate his weight during training. His training course will prepare him for the complicated movements inside the ISS and will allow him to face challenges related to anomalies that might occur during his mission.
He will continue to learn how to repair and maintain the pieces of equipment in the ISS. He will even learn how to collect his own blood, saliva, urine and stool to contribute to the mission’s scientific program that aims to study human health.
Only 9 months left before the big departure: the countdown has begun!