Julie Payette : Born on October 20, 1963 in Montreal, Quebec, Julie Payette was first selected to be a member of the Canadian Astronaut Program in June of 1992 as a member of the second class of astronauts, and the first selected by the Canadian Space Agency. Ms. Payette graduated from McGill University in Montreal with her Bachelor of Electrical Engineering in 1986, and then from the University of Toronto with her Master of Applied Science in Computer Engineering in 1990.
Following her selection in 1992, Julie Payette served as a technical advisor for the Mobile Servicing System (MSS), also known as the Canadarm 2, which was being developed as Canada's primary contribution to the International Space Station (ISS).
Julie Payette made her first spaceflight in 1999, when she launched onboard the Space Shuttle Discovery for the STS-96 mission to the International Space Station. That mission, which lasted from May 27 to June 6, was only the second mission to the new Space Station, and served to perform vital assembly tasks which would allow it to be occupied in the future. As a member of STS-96, Ms. Payette was responsible for the systems of the Unity module while the shuttle was docked.
Following her return to Earth, Julie Payette served as the Chief Astronaut of the Canadian Astronaut Program between 2000 and 2007. During this time, Ms. Payette served as the lead Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) for the 2006, STS-121 Space Shuttle mission to the ISS.
In July of 2009, Julie Payette made her return to space onboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour for the STS-127 mission. This mission served as a landmark mission for both the Canadian Space Program and the International Space Station. As a member of this mission, Ms. Payette became the first Canadian woman to return to space as well as the last Canadian to fly on the Space Shuttle. Additionally, this mission would mark the first (and as of writing, only) time that more than one Canadian was in space at a time (Julie Payette and Robert Thirsk). The mission also set the record for the most people and nations onboard a single vehicle when 13 people from 5 different nations were on the ISS at a single time. As a member of the STS-127 crew, Ms. Payette was in charge of the robotic arm operations for the mission, and operated three different robotic arms in a single mission (Canadarm, Canadarm 2 and the arm on Kibo).
Julie Payette retired from the Canadian Space Agency in July of 2013 to become the Chief Operating Officer for the Montreal Science Centre.
Selection: CSA 1992 - Class 2
Number of Spaceflights: 2
Missions: STS-96 (May 27 - June 6, 1999)
STS-127 (July 15 - 31, 2009)
Time in Space: 25 days, 11 hours, 58 minutes
Left CSA: July 2013
