Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk introduced as a part of a crew heading to the International Space Station

Hot on the heels of the Artemis II mission across the moon, which included Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, one other Canadian has been named to an area mission.

NASA introduced Expedition 75, the subsequent crew to the International Space Station (ISS). Along with Kutryk, the crew consists of NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov.

Kutryk was recruited in 2017 together with Jenni Gibbons, who most lately served as Hansen’s backup for Artemis II and as capcom — capsule communicator — for the mission.

“I am honoured to be a part of Crew-13 and represent Canada on this mission,” Kutryk mentioned.

“To me, space is driven by curiosity, adventure, innovation, and science — but above all, collaboration. Collaboration that creates opportunity and builds a better future. I’m committed to making the most of this unique opportunity.”

In 2023, Kutryk was introduced as the subsequent Canadian to fly to the ISS on a six-month mission.

It was initially introduced that he would fly on Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner capsule. Boeing, together with SpaceX, was awarded a contract to ferry astronauts to and from the ISS.

However, Starliner has confronted ongoing issues.

Its first uncrewed check, in December 2019, resulted in failure after a number of incidents, together with a misfire of its reaction-control thrusters that left the spacecraft with out sufficient gas to dock with the ISS.

The second uncrewed check, in May 2022, efficiently docked with the ISS. But the third mission — a crewed flight in June 2024 — skilled so many issues, notably with its thrusters, that the 2 astronauts, Sunni Williams and Butch Wilmore, had been left on the station whereas the capsule returned efficiently to Earth.

Because of those points, Starliner is dealing with main delays in its effort to hold astronauts to and from the ISS, which is why the newly introduced crew will launch in mid-September.

Born in Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., Kutryk served within the Royal Canadian Air Force as a fighter pilot and operational check pilot.

Since being recruited by the CSA in 2017, Kutryk has been coaching in Houston with NASA.