Jenni Gibbons sat down with Glacier Media to talk about becoming the third Canadian woman to become an astronaut, the job's ups and downs, and why space exploration matters.
A weightlifter, rock lover, engineer and now astronaut — at 36, Jenni Gibbons describes herself with an air of humility suited for the backup on an upcoming mission that will herald humanity’s return to the moon.
Where did it all begin? We moved around a little bit when I was younger. I went to high school in Calgary, and then by the time I went to university my family actually moved to Comox on Vancouver Island. I adore Comox. , I was exploring other things. I had this amazing professor who's still at McGill, still teaching, and he did thermodynamics and combustion.
I was in my office at the University of Cambridge in the Department of Engineering, when I got the call. It was just in advance of Canada Day. We have simulators that function with all of the software that supports the spacecraft, and you're speaking to mission control, and you have malfunctions that you have to respond to, as does the ground team.
We're both doing the training for the flight. If everything goes exactly as planned, Jeremy will fly on the mission. Why did you give up the life you had to become an astronaut? I was really inspired by space. I've always been proud that Canada is a space-faring nation, and I really believed in the money that we put into space.
Next up, I'm not sure what mission it'll be. But yep, I’m next up. It's just up to someone who has a higher pay grade than me to decide what this is.
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