{"id":1909,"date":"2017-03-31T13:15:14","date_gmt":"2017-03-31T13:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.porticomagazine.ca\/?p=1909"},"modified":"2020-10-28T14:40:25","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T18:40:25","slug":"u-of-g-student-among-72-shortlisted-astronaut-candidates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/2017\/03\/u-of-g-student-among-72-shortlisted-astronaut-candidates\/","title":{"rendered":"U of G student among 72 shortlisted astronaut candidates"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Astronaut<\/a><\/p>\n

More than five years ago, Scott VanBommel watched a rocket roar into the sky, propelling the Curiosity rover to Mars.<\/p>\n

Now the University of Guelph student hopes to become one of Canada\u2019s next astronauts, a prospect that may line him up to be among the first humans to blast off on a voyage to the red planet.<\/p>\n

In February, VanBommel was among 72 astronaut candidates shortlisted by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The list also includes U of G grads Matthew Bamsey and Olathe MacIntyre. VanBommel was one of nearly 4,000 applicants last summer after the CSA announced its current competition.<\/p>\n

This summer, VanBommel will complete his PhD. He\u2019ll also undergo numerous CSA tests designed to probe his physical and mental fitness for working in space, including everything from potential missions on the International Space Station to a possible voyage to Mars. The agency will name two astronauts by August.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing an astronaut encompasses everything I enjoy,\u201d says VanBommel, referring to constant learning, teamwork and science outreach.<\/p>\n

When he came to U of G to begin his B.Sc. in 2006, he was thinking of becoming a teacher like his mom and dad.<\/p>\n

He was drawn to physics early and enjoyed the problem solving in his first-year classes. In his fourth year, he worked on a project for the first time with Prof. Ralf Gellert, head of a<\/p>\n

U of G research team that designed and calibrated an instrument carried to Mars aboard a roving science laboratory.<\/p>\n

About the size of a Rubik\u2019s cube, the instrument \u2014 called an alpha X-ray spectrometer (APXS) \u2014 is mounted on the rover\u2019s robotic arm. Testing soil and rock samples, it looks for evidence that features on the red planet were sculpted by water, or that the planet might once have supported life.<\/p>\n

VanBommel was still in high school when the rovers Spirit and Opportunity landed on Mars in early 2004. By 2010, Spirit stopped working. (Opportunity is still sending data to Earth.)<\/p>\n

VanBommel studied data from Spirit for that senior project, and found himself hooked. \u201cThe death of Spirit was the birth of my career in space exploration,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

It was about two years ago that he realized that his Guelph experience might lend itself to an astronaut career. Last summer\u2019s CSA competition was the first call since 2009.<\/p>\n

Current NASA plans include a Mars mission in the mid-2030s. VanBommel says the red planet was once much like Earth, and it\u2019s still possible that Mars harbours signs of life.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could argue that the search for life outside Earth is one of mankind\u2019s biggest questions,\u201d he says.
\n\u2014ANDREW VOWLES<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than five years ago, Scott VanBommel watched a rocket roar into the sky, propelling the Curiosity rover to Mars. Now the University of Guelph student hopes to become one of Canada\u2019s next astronauts, a prospect that may line him up to be among the first humans to blast off on a voyage to the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1911,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[83,276],"yoast_head":"\nU of G student among 72 shortlisted astronaut candidates -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/2017\/03\/u-of-g-student-among-72-shortlisted-astronaut-candidates\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"U of G student among 72 shortlisted astronaut candidates -\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"More than five years ago, Scott VanBommel watched a rocket roar into the sky, propelling the Curiosity rover to Mars. 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