Herb Mathisen
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, June 25, 2008

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - When kids are asked at a young age "what do you want to be when you grow up?" - one of the stock answers is "astronaut."

Sharing the same page with administrative assistant and counter salesperson positions, a Canadian Space Agency (CSA) ad appeared in the Yellowknifer, looking for two new astronauts.

A spokesperson for the agency said they generally have a recruitment drive once every 10 years.

Yellowknife, at first glance, may seem a strange spot to be seeking astronauts, but when you consider what the most prominent professions are up here, it might begin to make sense.

With such a large volume of air travel for a relatively small population, pilots immediately jump to mind as potential astronauts.

Kevin Carr, a pilot with Air Tindi, said space travel is not in his future, though.

"Myself? Personally, no," said Carr. "I don't have a real desire. I'd much rather be cruising across the tundra at 50 feet then flying up there at 500 miles."

Carr said some people he works with might be interested

"We've definitely got some space cadets here," he joked.

One of the baseline requirements for the position is having a bachelor of science or engineering degree.

The advertisement calls for "an outstanding scientist, engineer and/or doctor with a wide variety of experience."

"We don't have really many scientific-type, geeky guys," he added.

He does work with a pilot who speaks Russian, which is an advantage, said the agency spokesperson, since it is the second major language used aboard the space station.

"We have one pilot here who speaks Russian," said Carr, "but I don't know if he'd be the type to go up in space."

Candidates must also be between four-foot-eleven and six-foot-three in height, because there is limited space within the space capsule and training jet.

The agency spokesperson said there are length limits on astronauts' femurs - the bone from the hip to the knee - because if they are too long and the pilot had to eject from the training jet, they could do damage to their legs.

Ed Lippert, a high school biology and chemistry teacher at Sir John Franklin High School, has been cultivating scientific minds for more than 10 years. Has he ever dreamt of navigating the stars?

Apparently not, and he also does not see it in the cards.

"I think I'm too old for that," he said.

"They probably want people who are multitalented, a doctor and a physicist or a philosopher," said Lippert.

"We have some really bright minds at our school though, who would probably be perfect for that job," he added.

Miguel Gordon, Napatchie Noah and Tommy Mercredi were climbing fences Monday, on a day off from school, looking very much like young explorers.

All three enthusiastically said they would like to be astronauts.

"No gravity... woohoo!" yelled Tommy.

"We could be the first kids on the moon," said Miguel.

When asked whether they had their bachelor of science degrees, Napatchie responded "kind of."

Tommy and Miguel shook their heads.

"No, I'm only in Grade 2," said Tommy.

The boys could not speak Russian either.

Perhaps when the CSA goes looking for astronauts again 10 years from now, the boys will be ready for take-off.