[b]Competition Narrows in National Astronaut Recruitment Campaign[/b]
Canada's third National Astronaut Recruitment Campaign is well underway. A record 5351 potential astronaut candidates submitted applications online when the campaign was launched last May. Following the first phases of evaluations, including preliminary interviews and basic medical tests, 40 were selected to move forward to the next round in the evaluation process. The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) completed robotics and fitness tests (including swimming) of those candidates last week. The evaluations took place in the Montreal area and it was the first time candidates were brought together for testing since the beginning of the campaign.
[b]Breakdown of top 40 Astronaut Candidates by Region[/b]*
[b]Region[/b] | [b]Candidates[/b] |
Atlantic Provinces | 1 |
Central (Quebec) | 8 |
Central (Ontario) | 10 |
Prairies | 6 |
Western (B.C.) | 4 |
Northern Canada | 0 |
Outside Canada** | 11 |
* This breakdown is based on location of residence at the time of application and does not necessarily reflect hometown.
** Canadian citizens residing outside of the country.
The number of aspiring astronauts who remain in the competition will be trimmed to 20 by the end of March 2009. In the coming months, successful applicants will be asked to undergo a series of evaluations. The CSA will release the names of the top 20 astronaut candidates in March 2009. From among them, two will be chosen to join Canada's Astronaut Corps in May 2009. At the same time, a pool of qualified candidates will be created to draw from in order to meet future needs.
For more information on the National Astronaut Recruitment Campaign, visit the Canadian Space Agency's [URL=http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronauts/default.asp]website[/URL].