Julie Payette
From The Space Library
 Julie Payette | |
| Birth Name | Julie Payette |
|---|---|
| Birth Date | Oct 20 1963 |
| Occupation | Astronaut, Canadian Space Agency |
Contents |
Personal Data
Born October 20, 1963, in Montreal, Quebec, Ms. Payette enjoys running, skiing, racquet sports and scuba diving. She has a commercial pilot license with float rating. Ms. Payette is fluent in French and English, and can converse in Spanish, Italian, Russian and German. She plays the piano and has sung with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Piacere Vocale in Basel, Switzerland, and the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra in Toronto.She is married to William (Billie) Flynn, test pilot and Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) from the Canadian Air Force. They have two children.
Education
Attended primary and secondary school in Montreal, Quebec. International Baccalaureate (1982) from the United World College of the Atlantic in Wales, UK. Bachelor of Engineering, Electrical (1986) cum laude from McGill University, Montreal. Master of Applied Science - Computer Engineering (1990) from the University of Toronto.
Experience
Before joining the space program, Ms. Payette conducted research in computer systems, natural language processing and automatic speech recognition. She worked as a system engineer with IBM Canada (1986-1988); research assistant at the University of Toronto (1988-1990); visiting scientist at the IBM Research Laboratory, in Zurich, Switzerland (1991) and research engineer with BNR/Nortel in Montreal (1992). In June 1992, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) selected Ms. Payette from 5,330 applicants to become one of four astronauts. After her basic training in Canada, she worked as a technical advisor for the Mobile Servicing System ( MSS), an advanced robotics system contributed by Canada to the International Space Station. In preparation for a space mission assignment, Ms. Payette obtained her commercial pilot license, studied Russian and logged 120 hours as a research operator on board reduced gravity aircraft. In April 1996, Ms. Payette was certified as a one-atmosphere, deep-sea diving suit operator. Ms. Payette obtained her military pilot captaincy on the Tutor CT-114 "Snowbird" jet at the Canadian Air Force Base in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan in February 1996. She obtained her military instrument rating in 1997. She has logged more than 1,300 hours of flight time. Ms. Payette was Chief Astronaut for the Canadian Space Agency (2000-2007).
Spaceflight Experience
NASA/CSA EXPERIENCE: Ms. Payette reported to the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas in August 1996. She completed initial astronaut training in April 1998 and was assigned to work on technical issues in robotics for the Astronaut Office. A veteran of two space flights, STS-96 (1999) and STS-127 (2009), she has logged over 611 hours in space. From September 1999 to December 2002, Ms Payette was assigned to represent the Astronaut Corps at the European and Russian space agencies, where she supervised procedure development, equipment verification and space hardware processing for the International Space Station Program. Ms. Payette also served as a CAPCOM (Spacecraft Communicator) at Mission Control Center in Houston and was Lead CAPCOM for Space Shuttle mission STS-121. The CAPCOM is responsible for all communications between ground controllers and the astronauts in flight. Julie Payette flew on Space Shuttle Discovery from May 27 to June 6, 1999 as a crewmember of STS-96. During the mission, the crew performed the first manual docking of the Shuttle to the International Space Station (ISS), and delivered four tons of supplies to the Station. Ms. Payette served as a mission specialist, was responsible for the Station systems, supervised the space walk and operated the Canadarm robotic arm. The STS-96 mission was accomplished in 153 orbits of the Earth, traveling more than six million kilometers in 9 days, 19 hours and 13 minutes. Ms. Payette was the first Canadian to participate in an ISS assembly mission and to board the Space Station. From July 15 to 31, 2009, Julie Payette served as the flight engineer on the crew of STS-127 aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour on the 29th Shuttle mission to the International Space Station. During this mission, also known as ISS Assembly Mission 2J/A, the crew completed the construction of the KIBO Japanese Experiment Module, installed scientific experiments on its Exposed Facility and delivered critical spare parts and replacement batteries to the orbital complex. Robotics technology was used almost every day on this assembly mission and Ms. Payette operated all three robotic arms - the Shuttle's Canadarm, the Station's Canadarm2, and a special-purpose Japanese arm on Kibo. While the Shuttle was docked to the ISS, the mission featured a record 13 astronauts from 5 different nationalities together on board a single joint spacecraft. It also highlighted the first time two Canadians were in space at the same time. The 16-day mission included five spacewalks and travelling 10.5 million kilometers in 248 orbits around the Earth.
Organizations
Member of l'Ordre des Ingenieurs du Quebec and the International Academy of Astronautics. Member of the Board of Canada's "Own The Podium" Olympic High Performance Program. Former Governor-in-Council for the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and member of the board of Queen's University. Les Amies d'affaires du Ritz.
Special Honours
Received one of six Canadian scholarships to attend the Atlantic College in Wales, UK (1980). Greville-Smith Scholarship (1982-1986), highest undergraduate award at McGill University. McGill University Faculty Scholar (1983-1986). NSERC post-graduate Scholarship (1988-1990). Massey College Fellowship (1988-1990). Canadian Council of Professional Engineers; distinction for exceptional achievement by a young engineer (1994). NASA Space Flight Medal (1999). Chevalier de l'Ordre de la Pleiade de la francophonie (2001). Knight of l'Ordre National du Quebec (2002). NASA Space Flight Medal (2009). University of Ottawa Distinguish Canadian Leadership Award (2009). Carried the Olympic flag in the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, British Columbia. Engineers Canada Gold Medal (2010), highest recognition of the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers. Inducted in the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame (2010). NASA Exceptional Service Medal (2010). Officer of the Order of Canada (2010). HONORARY DEGREES: Queen's University (1999); University of Ottawa (1999); Simon Fraser University (2000); Universite Laval (2000); University of Regina (2001); Royal Roads University (2001); University of Toronto (2001); University of Victoria (2002); Nipissing University (2002); McGill University (2003); Mount Saint Vincent University (2004); McMaster University (2004); University of Lethbridge (2005); Mount Allison University (2005); University of Alberta (2006); York University (2010); University of Waterloo (2010); Concordia University (2010).
Other Information
Aug-10
