CALGARY — An Alberta-born astronaut is now just days away from finally making his long-awaited journey into space.Joshua Kutryk, who was born in Fort Saskatchewan and grew up on a prairie farmland of eastern Alberta, is currently in quarantine in Houston as he prepares for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 mission to the International Space Station.NASA and SpaceX are targeting October 1 at 11:10 a.m. EDT for liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. If the launch proceeds as planned, the crew is expected to reach the International Space Station less than nine hours later.Kutryk, 44, spoke with reporters from quarantine on Thursday about the mission and the lengthy road that has brought him to the launch pad.“I’ve come to see that as one of the most important skills to work on,” Kutryk said to SpaceQ on dealing with constant changes to the mission schedule..The astronaut has already experienced a major delay to his first planned trip to space.Kutryk was originally assigned to fly aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, but problems with that program delayed the mission. He was subsequently reassigned to SpaceX’s Crew-13 mission.The latest mission was initially scheduled to launch in September, but NASA and SpaceX postponed the flight after detecting an oxidizer leak in the Dragon spacecraft’s propulsion system. SpaceX replaced an oxidizer valve and carried out additional work before the new October launch target was established.Now, Kutryk and his three crewmates are in the final stages of preparation.The crew includes NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov. They are expected to spend approximately six months aboard the International Space Station conducting research, experiments and maintenance work..The CSA says Crew-13 will be the first mission involving a Canadian astronaut under the program and will make Kutryk the latest Canadian to travel to the International Space Station.NASA says Crew-13 will include studies examining how spaceflight affects blood flow and blood clotting, vision, brain function and astronaut performance. Researchers will also study the effects of long-duration spaceflight on the body and evaluate ways to improve astronaut health and safety during future missions.The launch date has already changed during preparations. NASA previously reported that the mission was delayed after an oxidizer leak was detected on the Dragon spacecraft during routine prelaunch processing.Following additional testing and preparation, NASA and SpaceX are now targeting October 1 as the earliest launch opportunity.
