Training for the mission
Astronauts start preparing for a mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS) well before they are selected to travel to space.
David Saint-Jacques took spacewalk training at NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston, Texas. (Credit: NASA.)
The three phases of astronaut training:
Globetrotting while preparing
David Saint-Jacques began his mission-specific training in August 2016 at NASA's Johnson Space Center.
While David was preparing for space flight, he split his time between Canada, Europe, Japan, Russia and the United States. He took customized training on the ISS and its various modules, the Soyuz spacecraft, Canadian and international science, and a variety of mission-specific tasks.
During his pre-assignment training phase in March 2014, David completed his robotics training in Canada. He holds the highest level of qualification.
CSA astronaut David Saint-Jacques getting ready to take the plunge at NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. (Credit: NASA/David DeHoyos)
Training on the Soyuz spacecraft's manual override at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC) in Moscow. (Credit: CSA)
David Saint-Jacques took emergency training in the ISS airlock simulator at the Johnson Space Center. (Credit: NASA/Josh Valcarcel)
David Saint-Jacques completed water survival training in Russia in summer 2017. (Credit: GCTC)
David Saint-Jacques received training in the Columbus simulator at the European Astronaut Centre. (Credit: ESA)
David's schedule
Mission-specific training is very demanding. David must quickly pick up essential knowledge and skills, while also taking centre stage in public relations activities and regularly undergoing medical examinations.