Science North scientist could be one of Canada's next astronauts

A Sudbury, Ont. scientist who works at Science North has made the cut to be on the shortlist as Canada's next astronaut.

Olathe MacIntyre, a staff scientist at the science centre, is one of 100 people out of a pool of nearly 4,000 applicants who could be one of two Canadians to work on the International Space Station.

• Canadian Space Agency says 3,772 applied to be astronauts

• Want to be a Canadian astronaut? Today's the deadline to apply

The Canadian Space Agency is slated to choose two people next summer to go onto into space. Contenders includephysicists,geologists, doctors, and even jet pilots. So far,MacIntyre said she's already been put through the paces, with a series of academic and medical exams.

"In my early teens people would say to me 'what do you want to be when you grow up?' ... and that question really bothered me, it was a tough one," she told CBC's northern Ontario afternoon program Up North.

"So I thought of the most amazing job I could think of ... and I thought astronaut, and [then] I thought 'well that's ridiculous,'" she laughed.

"That's like wanting to be a rock star."

Her mission? Growing salad on Mars

MacIntyre, who has a background in biology, began thinking it was lessridiculous as she went through university, culminating with a PhD that focused on growing plants in low pressure environments.

MacIntyre hopes that if she makes the final cut, she'll be helping study how to grow plants in space, she said.

"I think that's really important for us moving forward in doing long-term space missions," she said, adding that she'd like to make it possible to grow salad on Mars.

Keeping up with the physical demands of being a potential astronaut has been the biggest challenge as she gets closer to the ultimate dream, she said.

"I see them really pushing themselves and eating well," she said. "It's a wonderful challenge to have and I'm really enjoying working on it."

MacIntyre said her two young boys are excited that she could be an astronaut one day, but they'remore enamoured with her day job.

"They love even more that I'm a staff scientist at Science North," she laughed. "They think that's the coolest thing ever."