Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk will speak to attendees at this year’s Remembrance Day ceremony at the St. Paul Rec. Centre.
LAKELAND – Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Joshua Kutryk will speak virtually at the St. Paul on November 11th on Remembrance Day. Kutryk is no stranger to the Lakeland region, having lived in Elk Point when his father was in the community as an RCMP officer.
On Memorial Day, Kutryk will take a virtual trip to St. Paul to talk about the past and the future, during the official ceremonies of the St. Paul Royal Canadian Legion (RCL).
“I want to talk, first and foremost, about remembering the past and cherishing the memories of those who fought for Canada’s legacy” throughout the country’s history and more recently, said Kutryk, himself a colonel of the Royal Canadian Air Force. .
He will talk about the importance of freedom, along with discussing humanity’s “greatest” mistakes, such as “fighting planet Earth,” which leads to hardship, pain, and agony.
Talking about the past is vital as humanity hopes to collectively work towards a better future, which Kutryk says will be part of his speech. “[Space] for me it is the future”, he adds.
Kutryk says he is optimistic and sees countries working together to take advantage of opportunities in space, “rather than fighting each other.”
“On a day like November 11, it’s worth thinking about some of the mistakes we’ve made in the past as a group, as a planet, as all of us,” he says. “Expanding our collective horizon, exploring and discovering together, and building the future together in space.”
As an astronaut, Kutryk also says he’s looking forward to the next two years of his career, and explains that the CSA is excited to work on two major projects with NASA.
The “most” exciting, according to Kutryk, is the November 14 launch of the Artemis I mission stack, which will consist of a Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and an uncrewed Orion spacecraft. Then in 2024, he said, a Canadian astronaut will be part of the four-man crew of Artemis II.
According to information from CSA, Artemis II will be the first manned mission of NASA’s Artemis program. The Canadian astronaut who joins the crew will be the first non-American to fly to the moon and will make Canada the second nation to “travel around the moon.”
The CSA astronaut who will participate is still unknown.
“The other thing we’re also excited about is that we’re still contributing as an active partner to the International Space Station (ISS),” he said. This involves doing research, development, innovation and education at the ISS National Laboratory.
“The next two years are going to be very exciting for us, and we can’t wait to see it,” Kutryk said.
Kutryk concluded by thanking his colleagues, friends, family and the Lakeland community. He said he’s also grateful for the opportunity to speak about issues close to his heart and issues he believes are important to everyone.