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Two Hills School Alumni and Astronaut Joshua Kutryk Returns
Two Hills School Alumni and Astronaut Joshua Kutryk Returns
Michelle Pinon - News Advertiser
Joshua Kutryk’s favourite place on earth is the Kutryk homestead in the Beauvallon area, which has been in the family for over 100 years.
He tries to get home once or twice a year, but that is challenging with his demanding schedule as he lives and works Houston. He is set to become the first Canadian Space Agency astronaut to serve on a commercial crew mission to the International Space Station.
Kutryk, a former graduate of Two Hills High School, returned to make a presentation to students on Feb. 6. “It’s exciting to come back to my high school.” The former ‘Tiger’ said there’s “lots of nostalgia and good memories” from his school days. He was also glad to see his former physics teacher Harvey Hasiuk in the crowd.
During Principal Collin Kupchenko’s introduction of Kutryk, he said, “We are extremely excited to have you visit our school today. We’re proud of our school and proud to be Tigers, and proud to welcome a former Tiger…Once a Tiger always a Tiger is a saying we often use and is very fitting here.”
Kutryk completed Grades 9-12 at Two Hills High School. He graduated in 2000 and was class valedictorian. His mom Kathy, who was in attendance, remarked that Joshua had to miss his high school graduation as he was already training at the Royal Military College of Canada. He was, however, able to deliver his valedictorian speech via videotape which his mom pre-recorded.
In 2004, he graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada with a Bachelors’ Degree in Mechanical Engineering. As an experimental test pilot he logged over 4,000 hours of flying on more than 40 different types of aircraft. He worked on a variety of flight test projects including: out of control flying, simulator certification, automated navigation and weapons guidance development. As a CF 18 fighter pilot, he flew missions in support of NATO, UN and NORAD commitments around the world.
He was selected as an astronaut candidate from more than four thousand applicants by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) in July of 2017. He completed a three-year training program and attained the title of astronaut in January of 2020. Since then, he’s continued to serve Canada’s space program at NASA. He works in different technical and operations positions, including mission control.
Kutryk told the students he’s spent a lot of his life in school. He has also spent a lot of time training under water as it simulates micro gravity. That’s where they do space walking, space station operations, orbital mechanics, etc. One of the biggest challenges, however, is learning Russian.
Astronauts usually have a 15 to 20 year career, but very little of it is spent in space. “Most of it is spent doing engineering type of jobs. We’re always training…We live underground sometimes on the ocean’s floor. We live in craters in Canada’s artic. These are just a few examples of what I’ve been doing over the last couple of years, getting ready for space.
There’s radiation. There’s no gravity. I’m going to lose a lot of muscle. Right now, we’re in the stage of doing a lot of work to prepare the human body to be able to take some of that. We will continue to do that during and after the mission. We’ve also been practicing how to get out of the Starliner in the event it lands in the ocean.”
In 2023, he was assigned to Starliner 1 that was initially set to launch in 2025, but has been delayed. While no official launch date has been set, he believes it will happen sometime in the next 12 months. As hard as it is to wait it out, Kutryk said, “It’s one of those things where the closer you get to it, the farther away it is. But you have to take it day to day and do the best you can in the meantime.”
Kutryk was wearing the mission patch that was released by CSA a short time ago. “One of the things that jumps out the most is the red flag, the same red flag that’s on my shoulder and that’s an important piece.”
Canada is one of the most special, unique countries in the world, noted Kutryk. “The Canada I know, the true, the north, the free; that lets us do things like this, which is sending Canadians into space.
In closing, I’ve always said, I feel so darn lucky and excited to have this job to be representing Canada, to be working for the Canadian Space Agency. I feel really special to be doing the job with the Canadian flag on my shoulder, because that’s special. There’s not a lot of countries that get to do that.”
Kutryk spent a lot of time answering students’ questions, signing autographs and having pictures taken with students, staff and special guests. While it wasn’t a normal day in the life of this astronaut, it was an unforgettable day, and left many inspired to fulfil their own dreams.
Grade 12 students Miranda Mandryk and Aubrey Sorochan were both inspired by Kutryk’s presentation and that it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from that you can follow your passions and pursue your dreams.
In an autographed message to students and staff at Two Hills School, Kutryk wrote, “Dream big. Never stop exploring!” Ad Astra.
