Canadian astronaut Saint Jacques ‘astounded’ by voyage to space station

“I am completely astounded by everything I have seen,” Saint-Jacques said during a brief conversation with family members on the ground at the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch site in Kazakhstan. (File Photo: David Saint-Jacques/Facebook)

LONGUEUIL, Que. — Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques boarded the International Space Station Monday afternoon, declaring himself “astounded” by the journey and excited for the discoveries ahead of him.

After the hatch opened at 2:37 p.m. Eastern, Saint-Jacques and his two crewmates floated in from the docked Soyuz capsule, embracing the astronauts who have been at the space station since June.

“I am completely astounded by everything I have seen,” Saint-Jacques said during a brief conversation with family members on the ground at the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch site in Kazakhstan.

Speaking in French, he described his first sunrise seen from space as “breathtaking.” He said “it’s just the beginning” of the discoveries ahead of him.

Canadian Space Agency president Sylvain Laporte told the crew members there was “a lot of relief” when the astronauts entered the space station about two hours after docking.

“Although we knew that you were safe and sound, there was nothing like seeing you come through the hatch,” Laporte said.

Gov. Gen. Julie Payette, herself a former astronaut, was also among those watching the launch in Kazakhstan. She offered Saint-Jacques a “Bravo, bravo, bravo” and told the space station crew they were an inspiration for humanity.

“The teamwork that you demonstrate today is exactly what we should replicate on Earth more often,” she said. “As the African proverb says, if we choose to go alone, we might go fast, but if we go together we go farther.”

The launch of the Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft carrying Saint-Jacques, Anne McClain of NASA and Oleg Kononenko of the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, appeared to go exactly as planned, lifting off at precisely 6:31 a.m. Eastern.

“We have liftoff,” a NASA television commentator said as the rocket roared into the sky under 930 pounds of thrust and at a speed of 1,770 kilometres per hour. “Everything looking good, vehicle is stable — good first stage performance.”

The crew reported that all went well in the critical initial minutes after liftoff.

Back on Canadian soil, a crowd monitored the launch from the Canadian Space Agency in Longueuil, Que., as the rocket began its trip to the space station.

Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains praised the successful takeoff and said the mission offers an exciting opportunity for scientific research and developments that could have broad applications, in such things as robotics and aging.

“Space represents a lot of opportunities for a lot of Canadians,” he said at the agency office. “It really is inspirational what David represents…today is an incredible day in space.”

Astronaut Jenni Sidey-Gibbons echoed the message, saying Saint-Jacques was a special role model for her and other young people who may be considering a future in space.

“That was particularly important for me when I was growing up and I certainly wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for Canada’s early space program and, kind of, the heroes that pushed that forward,” she said. “It’s incredible.”

It was the first manned Russian launch since a Soyuz rocket carrying NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos’ Alexei Ovchinin failed two minutes into its flight on Oct. 11. They managed to emerge safely despite a harrowing descent back to Earth.

A Russian investigation attributed the failure to a sensor that was damaged during the rocket’s final assembly.

On Monday, NASA announced Hague and Ovchinin will now launch to the space station on Feb. 28, along with NASA astronaut Christina Hammock Koch.

Saint-Jacques, 48, has spent years training for the six-month mission, which was originally scheduled for Dec. 20 but was moved up after the aborted Soyuz launch.

Aboard the station, he will conduct a number of science experiments, with some focusing on the physical effects of the weak gravity astronauts experience in orbit.

Former astronaut Robert Thirsk said the schedule will be especially busy for the trio.

“Every five-minute increment of our life is scheduled, and that will be the same for David also,” he said at the space agency office. “The challenge for him will be to pace himself to accomplish the work that’s expected of him.”

The arrival of the three astronauts restores the space station’s crew to six as they join Serena Aunon-Chancellor of NASA, Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency and Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos, who are scheduled to remain aboard until Dec. 20.

The last Canadian astronaut to visit the space station was Chris Hadfield, who was on a five-month mission that ended in May 2013.

— With files from The Associated Press