Still undergoing thorough training sessions to get his body and mind prepared, Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques is getting ready for the International Space Station. David will takeoff from Kazakhstan in November for his first journey to the ISS.
However, until then, David has to pass all the thorough training sessions which include learning about the technology on ISS, zero-gravity gymnastic, pool training, Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) training for spacewalks, and the list may go on.
“It’s all challenging because all these training sessions, they represent things that I must know and I must master. Not to try to please an instructor or to pass a test, I must know them if I want to survive,” explained Saint-Jacques for the CBC News.
David Saint-Jacques will spend more time in space than the last Canadian astronaut on ISS
Five years ago, another Canadian astronaut, Chris Hadfield, spent about five months in the International Space Station. Saint-Jacques, however, will spend six months on ISS, along with the NASA astronaut Anne McClain and the Russian Oleg Kononenko.
Also, David Sanit-Jacques will co-pilot the Soyuz MS-11 with the Russian astronaut Oleg Kononenko.
Since he has been hired as a Canadian astronaut, David Saint-Jacques already spent about nine years of grueling training sessions, but only in the last five months he entered the specific training sessions for the International Space Station journey and stay.
Canadian astronaut Saint-Jacques is pushing himself to the limits to get ready for the ISS
From pool training and zero-gravity gym sessions to Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) training for spacewalks, David Saint-Jacques pushes himself to the limits because, as he puts it, this is what drives him to “real focus.”
During his six-month stay on the International Space Station, Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques will conduct experiments in the Unity Lab, handle the Canadarm, and manage the Columbus Lab, among other things.
Courtesy of CBS News
