The Canadian astronaut on what life, research and politics will be like aboard the International Space Station
In December, Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques will fly into orbit to spend six months aboard the International Space Station on Expedition 58/59 — becoming the first Canadian to blast off since Chris Hadfield in 2012. Saint-Jacques split most of his training between Houston, Tex., Cologne, Germany, Tokyo and Moscow, preparing with American astronaut Anne McClain and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko for mission aspects such as the Soyuz rocket launch, emergency procedures, robotics and other experiments. From Russia, the physician, biomedical engineer and pilot spoke about the medical technology he’ll be testing and why space exploration matters.
On conducting medical research in space
The main research theme on the ISS is life sciences and medical research. Spaceflight is bad for you, and in ways that resemble diseases that afflict us all on Earth — so we’re the perfect guinea pigs! We’re laying the groundwork for the constant monitoring of astronauts’ immune systems.
This story is from the September/October 2018 edition of Canadian Geographic.
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This story is from the September/October 2018 edition of Canadian Geographic.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
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