Ross Mitchell: A sniper from the farm

Story by Stephen J. Thorne

Ross Mitchell of Douglas, Man., was just 18 when he began infantry training with the Canadian army in 1943. Told he would not be sent overseas until he was 19, he decided to give the airborne a try. He was with the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, moving from reserve to active duty in England in February 1945. He made his first and only combat jump behind enemy lines into Wesel, Germany, on March 24. His commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Jeff Nicklin of Winnipeg, a two-time Grey Cup champion and Canadian Football League all-star who’d played six seasons at half-back for the Blue Bombers, never made it out of his chute.

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September 29, 1962
Canada in the Space Age

Canada was the third country to have a satellite in space, Alouette 1, launched on Sept. 29, 1962. With the launch of Anik A1 in 1972, it became the first to establish its own geostationary communication satellite network, completed in 1973 with the launch of Anik A3.

But it took 11 more years before a Canadian astronaut, Marc Garneau, took leave of the atmosphere. Eight Canadian astronauts have participated in 16 space missions, so far.

Currently, Canada has four active astronauts, Jeremy Hansen, David Saint-Jacques, Joshua Kutryk and Jennifer Sidey. In November, Saint-Jacques is slated to become the 10th Canadian in space, on a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Number nine? He was a Canadian space tourist. Guy Laliberté, founder of Cirque du Soleil, who reportedly paid $35 million in 2009 for a 12-day trip to the ISS. While aboard, he advocated for water conservation. He said the experience was more than worth the price tag.

In 2016, the Canadian Space Agency chose the latest two recruits, Kutryk and Sidey, from 3,772 applicants. They are training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

Canadian Space Agency’s list of astronaut missions:

Marc Garneau Oct. 5-13, 1984

Roberta Bondar Jan. 22-30, 1992

Steve MacLean Oct. 22- Nov. 1, 1992

Chris Hadfield Nov. 12-20, 1995

Marc Garneau May 19-29, 1996

Bob Thirsk June 20-July 7, 1996

Bjarni Tryggvason Aug. 7-19, 1997

Dave Williams April 17-May 3, 1998

Julie Payette May 27-June 6, 1999

Marc Garneau Nov. 30-Dec. 11, 2000

Chris Hadfield April 19-May 1, 2001

Steve MacLean Sept. 9-21, 2006

Dave Williams Aug. 8-21, 2007

Julie Payette July 15-31, 2009

Robert Thirsk May 27-Dec. 1, 2009

Chris Hadfield Dec. 19, 2012-May 13, 2013

September 29, 1927

The Hudson Strait Expedition begins, leading the RCAF
to explore the eastern Arctic and establish radio stations.

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