Posted: Thu, May 14, 2009, 7:46 AM ET (1146 GMT)
The Canadian Space Agency announced Wednesday that it has chosen two new astronauts for its modest astronaut corps. CSA selected Jeremy Hansen and David Saint-Jacques from a pool of over 5,300 applicants, making them the 11th and 12th Canadians to join that country's astronaut corps. Hansen is a fighter pilot with degrees is space sciences and physics, while Saint-Jacques is a medical doctor who also has a PhD in astrophysics. The two will begin formal astronaut training later this year at NASA's Johnson Space Center, and before that support two other Canadian astronauts on their upcoming missions: Bob Thirsk, who is flying to the ISS on Soyuz mission later this month; and Julie Payette, a member of the STS-127 shuttle crew scheduled for launch in June.

Related Links:

•  Toronto Star article
•  Montreal Gazette article
•  Ottawa Citizen article
•  Canadian Press article
•  CSA press release