Robert Thirsk : Robert (Bob) Thirsk was born on August 17, 1953 in New Westminster, British Columbia. He obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineer from the University of Calgary (1976) followed by a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1978. This was followed in 1982 by a Doctorate of Medicine from McGill University (1982) and a Masters of Business Administration from the MIT Sloan School of Management (1998).
Dr. Thirsk was selected for the first class of Canadian astronauts in December 1983, and began his training in February 1984 in order to serve as the backup for the October 1984 STS-41G mission of Marc Garneau.
In 1996, Dr. Thirsk made his first spaceflight onboard the Space Shuttle Columbia as a part of the STS-78 crew. This mission performed many international experiments relating to life and material sciences. These included investigations of protein crystallization, fluid physics, multi-phase material solidification, and the changes in plants, animals, and humans under microgravity conditions.
In 1998 Dr. Thirsk was assigned to undergo mission specialist training at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas. During this time, he also served as a CAPCOM in support of the International Space Station (ISS) missions. In 2004, he began training at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Star City, Russia to become certified as a flight engineer for the Soyuz spacecraft.
In 2009, Dr. Thirsk returned to space for his second mission, as well as the first Canadian long duration spaceflight when he flew to the ISS as a part of the Expedition 20/21 crew. On this flight, he was also the first Canadian to launch to space on board the Russian Soyuz rocket, and was, along with Julie Payette, a part of the largest gathering of people in space and the first time more than one Canadian was in space at one time. Due to the extended duration of his stay in orbit, Dr. Thirsk has the highest amount of time in space of any of the Canadian Astronauts.
In 2012, Dr. Thirsk retired from the CSA and the astronaut program.
Selection: NRC 1983 - Class 1
Number of Spaceflights: 2
Missions: STS-78 (June 20 - July 7, 1996)
Soyuz TMA-15/ISS-20/21 (May 27 - December 1, 2009)
Time in Space: 204 days 18 hours 30 minutes
Left CSA: 2012
