In April 1996, Ms. Payette was certified as a one-atmosphere, deep-sea diving suit operator. Ms. Payette obtained her military pilot captaincy on the CT-114 “Tutor” jet at the Canadian Air Force Base in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan in February 1996. She obtained her military instrument rating in 1997.

She has logged more than 1,300 hours of flight time. 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, supervised the space walk and operated the Canadarm robotic arm. The STS-96 mission was accomplished in 153 orbits of the Earth, traveling more than six million kilometers in 9 days, 19 hours and 13 minutes. Ms. Payette was the first Canadian to participate in an ISS assembly mission and to board the Space Station. She was the Chief Astronaut for the Canadian Space Agency (2000-2007). In 2017, Ms. Payette was appointed as the Governor General of Canada

Born: 20 Oct 1963, Montreal, QC