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Dr. Robert (Bob) Brent THIRSK
Flight Engineer of Soyuz TMA
CSA astronaut, Canada
BIRTHPLACE AND DATE: Born August 17, 1953, New Westminster,
British Columbia.
EDUCATION:
Attended primary and secondary schools in British Columbia,
Alberta, and Manitoba. Received a Bachelor of Science
degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University
of Calgary in 1976, a Master of Science in Mechanical
Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) in 1978, a Doctorate of Medicine from McGill University
in 1982, and a Master of Business Administration from
the MIT Sloan School of Management in 1998.
EXPERIENCE:
Dr. Thirsk was in the family medicine residency program
at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Montreal when he was
selected in December 1983 for the Canadian Astronaut
Program. He began astronaut training in February 1984
and served as backup payload specialist to Marc Garneau
for the October 1984 space shuttle mission STS-41G.
Dr.
Thirsk has been involved in various Canadian Space Agency
projects including parabolic flight campaigns and mission
planning. He served as crew commander for two space mission
simulations: the seven-day CAPSULS mission in 1994, at
Defence Research and Development Canada in Toronto, and
the 11-day NEEMO 7 undersea mission in 2004 at the National
Undersea Research Center in Key Largo, Florida. He led
an international research team investigating the effect
of weightlessness on the heart and blood vessels. He
works with educational specialists in Canada to develop
space-related curriculum for grade school students. Initiatives
such as Canolab, Space for Species, and Tomatosphere have
allowed thousands of young Canadians to experience the
thrill of scientific discovery.
In June and July 1996, Dr.
Thirsk flew as a payload specialist aboard space shuttle
mission STS-78, the Life and Microgravity Spacelab (LMS)
mission. During this 17-day flight aboard Columbia, he
and his six crewmates performed 43 international experiments
devoted to the study of life and materials sciences. The
life science experiments investigated changes in plants,
animals, and humans under space flight conditions. The
materials science experiments examined protein crystallization,
fluid physics and high-temperature solidification of multi-phase
materials in a weightless environment.
In August 1998, Dr.
Thirsk was assigned by the Canadian Space Agency to NASA's
Johnson Space Center in Houston to pursue mission specialist
training. This training program involves advanced instruction
on both shuttle and space station systems, EVA (spacewalk),
robotic operations, and Russian language. Within the NASA
Astronaut Office, Dr. Thirsk serves as a CAPCOM (capsule
communicator) for the International Space Station program.
CAPCOMs participate in actual and simulated space missions
as a communication link between the ground team at Mission
Control and the astronauts in orbit. CAPCOMs speak directly
with the space station crew, and assist with technical planning
for the mission and last-minute troubleshooting.
In 2004,
Dr. Thirsk trained at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training
Centre near Moscow and became certified as a Flight Engineer
for the Soyuz spacecraft. He is currently training in Russia
to serve as the backup crewmember to European astronaut
Roberto Vittori for the April 2005 Soyuz 10S taxi mission
to the International Space Station.
January 2005.
Materials from the Canadian Space Agency.
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