People & Culture
The Canadian astronaut discusses her journey as an astronaut and next steps in space exploration
For Jenni Gibbons, going from a young girl growing up in stunning Alberta to the designated Canadian backup astronaut for NASA’s Artemis II moon mission was a natural progression. When the drive to explore the world around you, be it the Rocky Mountains or the endless night skies of the Prairies, is instilled at a young age, why wouldn’t you want to know what lies beyond the next ridge — or even the limits of Earth’s atmosphere? “At my earliest ages, I benefited from being from Canada, and more specifically from Calgary,” says Gibbons. “There are such beautiful landscapes, so easily accessible. That certainly sparked an early curiosity in learning about the world around me, and that extends to appreciating everything we can learn from our outdoors and our night sky.” Now, with a role to play in possibly the most important mission in recent spacefaring history, Gibbons joins childhood hero Roberta Bondar at the forefront of Canadian space exploration. She spoke with Canadian Geographic about her journey, her training and the important contributions Canada is making to this next generation of cosmic adventure.
Our parents are our guides into the world around us. I really benefited from that. A few family members of mine are also engineers, and that later became important. And we’re so fortunate to be from a spacefaring nation and have role models like Roberta Bondar and Marc Garneau. But I think I benefited most from people close to me — teachers, peers and professors who invested in me and really listened to what I wanted to study and encouraged me. When I first moved to Montreal to study at McGill University, I felt like everywhere I looked there were opportunities to learn and grow. It was such a rich environment. And when I later moved to Cambridge University in the U.K., I had a similar experience. It was there that I first applied to the Canadian Space Agency. Those environments were pivotal in shaping what I valued, what I wanted to study and what I want to keep looking for as I move forward in life.
Colleagues, friends and family members prompted me to apply to the Canadian Space Agency’s astronaut recruitment drive. I was only a couple of months into my new professorship at Cambridge, and anyone who’s working in academia knows the first year is very heavy workload-wise. I had to juggle through the assessment and application process, which itself was a whirlwind. They cover everything — your reaction in survival scenarios, physical testing, how you work in groups, how you solve problems, your expertise in robotics… Once we were selected, everything moved fast. Joshua (Kutryk) and I were announced on Canada Day 2017 and were in Houston, Texas, training by mid-August. While I was motivated and wanted to be involved, I didn’t really have the expectation of being selected. But when I was invited back, someone told me that maybe I didn’t have the whole picture. And that maybe I should take a step back and let them make the decision they’re qualified to make. That realization was certainly a perspective shift for me.
This will be a very flight-specific role. First and foremost, it’ll be to support the crew in any way they need. And if a situation should arise where Jeremy Hansen cannot fill that seat, I would fill it — but that’s very rare. I really hope Jeremy goes on this mission. He is such a trusted and exceptional astronaut; he is so well suited for it. So, while I am conscious of the possibility, it certainly won’t interfere with my support activities. Truly, the expectation is that I act as another crew representative for the whole development for this flight, which is very cool. It’s our return to the moon!
I can be hopeful it’s going to be one way or another, but it’s not up to me. It depends on the needs of the space program and what’s best for Canada. I will be so ecstatic just to go. The big picture for Canada is important to me, and I really think space is the right area for our country to be investing in. We have a lot of problems that we need traction to solve, and space is such an important way to get that traction. Whether it’s food security, climate change, communications or healthcare, I feel like space is one avenue to making progress on all of those issues. So, however Canada chooses to invest, hopefully I can fill that need as the person in that capsule on that flight. I’ll just be happy to be involved.
This story is from the July/August 2024 Issue
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