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Personal Profile
Born October 20, 1963, in Montréal, Quebec,
Ms. Payette enjoys running, skiing, racquet sports and scuba
diving. She has a multi-engine commercial pilot license with instrument
and float ratings.
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Ms. Payette plays the piano and has sung with the Chamber
Choir of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the Piacere Vocale in Basel, Switzerland,
and the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra Choir in Toronto. She is fluent
in French and English, and converses in Spanish, Italian, Russian and
German.
Education. Attended primary and secondary school in
Montréal,
Quebec. International Baccalaureate (1982) from the United World College of
the Atlantic in South Wales, UK. Bachelor of Engineering, - Electrical (1986)
from McGill University, Montréal. Master of Applied Science, - Computer
Engineering (1990) from the University of Toronto.
Organizations. Co-chairman of the Board for Canada Corps.
Member of l'Ordre des Ingénieurs du Québec. Appointed
member of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
(NSERC). Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering. Les Amies d'affaire
du Ritz. Board of Directors, United World Colleges (International).
Special Honours. Received one of six Canadian scholarships to
attend the United World College of the Atlantic in South Wales, UK (1980).
Greville-Smith Scholarship (1982-1986), highest undergraduate award at
McGill University. McGill Faculty Scholar (1983-1986), graduated with
distinction in 1986. NSERC post-graduate Scholarship (1988-1990). Massey
College Fellowship (1988 to 1990). Canadian Council of Professional Engineers;
distinction for exceptional achievement by a young engineer (1994).
Chevalier de
l'Ordre de la Pléiade de la francophonie (2001).
Ordre national du Québec
(2002).
Honorary Degrees. Queen's University (1999); University of Ottawa (1999);
Simon Fraser University (2000); Université Laval (2000); University of
Regina (2001); Royal Roads University (2001); University of Toronto (2001);
University of Victoria (2002); Nipissing University (2002);
McGill University (2003); Mount Saint Vincent University (2004); McMaster University (2004).
Experience. Before joining the space program, Ms. Payette
conducted research in computer systems, natural language processing,
automatic speech recognition and the application of interactive technologies
in space. She was system engineer with IBM Canada (1986-88);
research assistant at the University of Toronto (1988-90);
visiting scientist at the IBM Research Laboratory, in Zurich, Switzerland (1991).
She was research engineer for the Speech Research Group,
Bell-Northern Research/Nortel,
Montréal (1992).
In June 1992, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) selected Ms. Payette from
5330 applicants to become one of four astronauts. After
undergoing basic training in Canada, she worked as a technical advisor for
the Mobile Servicing System (MSS) — an advanced robotics system and Canada's
contribution to the International Space Station. In 1993, Ms. Payette
established the Human-Computer Interaction Group at the Canadian
Astronaut Program and served as a technical specialist on the NATO
International Research Study Group (RSG-10) on speech processing
(1993 to 1996).
In preparation for a space mission assignment, Ms. Payette obtained her
commercial pilot license, studied Russian and logged 120 hours as a research
operator on board reduced gravity aircraft. In April 1996, Ms. Payette was
certified as a one-atmosphere, deep-sea diving suit operator. Ms. Payette
obtained her captaincy on the CT-114 military jet at the Canadian Air Force
Base in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan in February 1996. She obtained her military
instrument rating in 1997. Ms. Payette has logged more than 900 hours of
flight time, including 450 hours on high performance jet aircraft.
NASA Experience. Ms. Payette reported to the NASA Johnson
Space Center in Houston, Texas in August 1996. She completed initial
astronaut training in April 1998 and was assigned to work on technical
issues in robotics for the Astronaut Office.
Julie Payette flew on Space Shuttle Discovery from May 27 to June 6,
1999 as a crewmember of STS-96. During the mission, the crew performed the
first manual docking of the Shuttle to the International Space Station (ISS),
and delivered four tons of supplies to the Station. Ms. Payette served as a
mission specialist, was responsible for the Station systems and operated
the Canadarm robotic arm while in orbit. The STS-96 mission was accomplished in
153 orbits of the Earth, traveling more than six million
kilometres in 9 days, 19 hours and
13 minutes. Ms. Payette became the first Canadian to participate in
an ISS
assembly mission and to board the Space Station.
From September 1999 to December 2002, Ms. Payette worked as a test representative and crew liaison officer for the ISS Program in Europe and Russia, in support of crew interfaces and hardware testing activities.
Current Assignment. Ms. Payette is the Chief Astronaut for the Canadian Space Agency. As a technical assignment, she works as a CAPCOM (Capsule Communicator) at the Mission Control Center in Houston. She divides her time between these responsibilities and astronaut currency training.
June 2004
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