2 University of New Brunswick alumni shortlisted for Canada’s space program

Two University of New Brunswick (UNB) alumni are getting close to realizing their dreams of seeing the stars.

Crystal LaFlamme and Alex DeLorey have both been shortlisted by the Canadian Space Agency in a competitive program to recruit two new astronauts.

“It’s a bit surreal to be included. I immediately felt both nervous and excited,” said geoscientist LaFlamme, who graduated from UNB in 2014, in a release.

In a phone call with Global News, she said she feels honoured to be able to represent Canadians and Canadian females.

“I mean what kid doesn’t want to grow up to be an astronaut?” LaFlamme said

The geoscientist said the candidates had to go through different types of training.

“We’ve just been through gruelling multi-day testing of our mental and physical capabilities,” LaFlamme said. “At times we were brought to our limits physically in both water and on land and then tested for our problem-solving skills.”

LaFlamme and DeLorey are two of 72 people shortlisted for the country’s space program.

READ MORE: Pool of potential Canadian astronauts down to 72

DeLorey said it would mean the world to him to get one of the two positions.

“It’s a dream in my mind everybody’s had. Everybody has looked up and thought, ‘geeze what would it be like to go,’ and to be able to get the job that puts you on a very short list to get to go up to space would just be incredible,” DeLorey said.

He said his wife has been extremely supportive, and his son was born in December.

“It was a Thursday evening I remember at the end of November, I think it was that I got the letter that says, ‘your application is being considered, you’re down to the final 100, you’re moving on to the medical step. ‘ My wife read the word first, she read ‘congratulations’ and as soon as I heard that I stopped listening,” DeLorey said

READ MORE: Roberta Bondar became Canada’s first woman in space 25 years ago

Both alumni recently underwent several days of testing at a military base in Quebec.

“The days were all day long. We woke-up around 5 a.m. we collected at 6 a.m. and we ran through a gauntlet of tests and evaluations until about 10 pm at night, went to sleep in our barracks and went to sleep and did it all over again for about three-and-a-half days,” DeLorey said.

“All-in-all it was a pretty grueling few days and we were often brought to our limits physically and then asked to solve problems after that,” LaFlamme said.

LaFlamme’s former professor and PhD supervisor Chris McFarlane said he was not surprised she was chosen for the program.

“She’s athletic, she’s smart, she’s driven, and she’s ambitious so I think she’s actually got everything it takes to be an astronaut,” DeLorey said.

READ MORE: New astronauts and a solar eclipse will have Canadians looking skyward in 2017

He added there was a feeling of envy finding out the news.

“I was envious because I always wanted to become an astronaut too,” he said.

DeLorey of Moncton, currently works in Ontario at SNC Lavalin as a program manager, and according to a release, spent time in the summer learning to fly, scuba dive, sky dive and obtain a radio operator permit to improve his application.

“To be in a room and talking with people very seriously and candidly about sending people to mars gave me goosebumps,” DeLorey said.
DeLorey said getting chosen is in part due to UNB.

READ MORE: New astronauts and a solar eclipse will have Canadians looking skyward in 2017

“It says to me that UNB’s got a good program,” DeLorey said.

The two have never met and were in different testing groups.

The two astronauts are expected to be chosen this summer. The release says by August the recruits will be packing to head to Texas for basic training at NASA’s Johnson Space Centre.
DeLorey said no matter what happens he’s proud to have made it this far.

“Regardless of how far I get, I can tell my son a story of how I really went after my dreams and how I pursued them and what I did to make sure that if I don’t get the job I wake up and I’m happy that I’ve done everything I can in order to get it,” DeLorey said.