Joshua Kutryk (born March 21, 1982) is a Canadian astronaut, test pilot, fighter pilot and engineer. He was selected by the

Canadian Space Agency The Canadian Space Agency (CSA; ) is the national space agency of Canada, established in 1990 by the ''Canadian Space Agency Act''. The President of the Canadian Space Agency, president is Lisa Campbell (civil servant), Lisa Campbell, who took ...

(CSA) as one of the two members of the 2017 CSA Group alongside Jenni Sidey.

Early life and education

Joshua Kutryk was born on March 21, 1982, in

Fort Saskatchewan Fort Saskatchewan is a city along the North Saskatchewan River in Alberta, Canada. It is northeast of Edmonton, the provincial capital. It is part of the Edmonton Capital Region#Edmonton CMA, Edmonton census metropolitan area and one of 24 muni ...

, Alberta. His family moved frequently, living in Fort Saskatchewan, Elk Point and Whitehorse before his father retired from a career in the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

, at which time the family moved to a cattle farm near Beauvallon, Alberta. He attended St. John XXIII Catholic School. His family emigrated to Canada from

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

in 1910. He graduated from the

Royal Military College of Canada The Royal Military College of Canada (), abbreviated in English as RMC and in French as CMR, is a Military academy#Canada, military academy and, since 1959, a List of universities in Canada#Ontario, degree-granting university of the Canadian ...

in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

. 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 Military science is the study of military processes, institutions, and behavior, along with the study of warfare, and the theory and application of organized coercive force. It is mainly focused on theory, method, and practice of producing mi ...

at the

in 2014. Joshua Kutryk is a distinguished graduate of the United States Air Force Test Pilot School in Edwards, California. He is also a graduate of the Canadian Forces College Joint Command and Staff Program.

Career

Prior to joining the

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

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

(RCAF) in

Cold Lake, Alberta Cold Lake is a city in east-northern Alberta, Canada and is named after the lake nearby. Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake (CFB Cold Lake) is situated within the city's outer limits. History Cold Lake was first recorded on a 1790 map, by the nam ...

, where he led the unit responsible for flight-testing of fighter aircraft in Canada. He earned the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Kutryk was most notably responsible for the testing of new aircraft technologies on the

CF-18 The McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet (official military designation CF-188) is a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) variant of the American McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet fighter aircraft. In 1980, the F/A-18 was selected as the winner of the New ...

fighter jet. Kutryk served in combat deployments to both

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

during his time in the RCAF. He has accumulated over 4200 hours of flying experience across more than 40 types of aircraft. In 2012, he received the Liethen-Title Award for the top test pilot graduate from the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School. 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, musician, and writer. As the first Canadian to perform extravehicular activity in outer space, he has flown two Space Shuttle missions and ...

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. Jenni Sidey 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 6 January 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 Jeremy Roger Hansen (born January 27, 1976) is a Canadian astronaut, fighter pilot, physicist and former aquanaut. He was selected to join the Canadian Space Agency in the 2009 CSA selection along with David Saint-Jacques. Prior to his select ...

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 List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

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 in Houston, Texas (originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center), where human spaceflight training, research, and flight controller, flight control are conducted. ...

. He is a member of the 2017 NASA astronaut class. In September 2019, Kutryk participated as a cavenaut in the training

ESA CAVES CAVES, an acronym for Cooperative Adventure for Valuing and Exercising human behaviour and performance Skills, is a European Space Agency astronaut training course in which international astronauts train in a space-analogue cave environment. Desi ...

organized by the

European Space Agency The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member International organization, international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 ...

between

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

References

External links

CSA profile

CSA Biography on YouTube
*
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