Canadian astronaut awaits green light to fly

A recent mishap aboard a Soyuz capsule en route to the International Space Station has done nothing to unnerve Canadian astronaut David SaintJacques about his own upcoming mission.

“It’s a dangerous job. We expect that there’s a risk. We expect that not every launch is going to be perfect,” Saint-Jacques told The Canadian Press in an interview from Ottawa.

“What matters is to have trust that there is a way out, that there is an escape system that works well, that search-and-rescue efforts are on the ball.”

Saint-Jacques, 48, said those contingencies were on display Oct. 11 when a rocket failure forced a Soyuz capsule with two astronauts on board to abort and make an emergency landing.

Russia has suspended all manned space launches pending an investigation, the results of which will give Saint-Jacques a better idea of when his own launch will take place.

The Canadian was slated to fly to the International Space Station Dec. 20 on a six-month mission — his first space voyage.

But the exact date is now uncertain and likely to change.

“Once they finish their work, we’ll know whether the launch will happen on time, later or maybe even ahead of time,” Saint-Jacques said. “We don’t know. We’re getting ready for every option, (and) I’ll be ready whatever happens.”

Saint-Jacques was part of the backup crew for the failed Oct. 11 space flight and was on site in Kazakhstan when fellow astronauts aboard the craft — NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Alexei Ovchinin of Roscosmos — plummeted 50 kilometres to earth. Parachutes deployed, and neither man was injured, but Hague told the Associated Press it was the closest call of his career.