Payette to join fellow Canadian Thirsk in space on 'historic' mission

Watching fellow Canadian astronaut Bob Thirsk blast off into space Wednesday for a trip to the International Space Station brought back memories for Julie Payette who made her first space flight10 years ago.

It was May 27, 1999, when Payette last flew to the space station on board U.S. space shuttle Discovery.

At the time it had just two empty modules and there was no one living on board.

But when she makes her next trip in a couple of weeks, Payette, 45,will find the giant space lab has expanded to eight habitable modules and grown to the size of two football fields.

Payette, who is fromMontreal,launches June 13 aboard U.S. space shuttle Endeavour for a 16-day mission that's destined for the history books.

When she gets into orbit, it will be the first time Canada has had two astronauts in space at the same time.

"It's historic, but I see that as a normal evolution for a country which has always been an important player in the exploration of space," Payette said Thursday during a news conference with her colleagues from Houston.

Space station will be home to 13

Thirsk will be spending six months on board the station a record stay by a Canadian astronaut.

He will also lay out the welcome mat for Payette who will arrive with her six crewmates two days after their Florida departure.

Between Thirsk and his five crew mates and Payette and her six colleagues, there will be a record 13 people living and working inside the space station.

Payette will be the only woman among them.

"If you're asking me how I feel about it, the good news is that nobody is going to steal my hair band, but I will probably have to share some of my food," she quipped.

Asked in a subsequent telephone interview about the significance of the number 13 she leaves June 13 and will be among that many on board Payette said she's not superstitious.

"I played Olympic handball in high school most of my youth and that was my number," she said. "If anything it's a lucky one."

Payette will operate Canadarm

Payette, a mother of two boys aged 15 and five, said she'll miss her youngest's birthday but suggests he's more interested in toys than her upcoming odyssey.

"Power Rangers and Transformers are much more exciting for him at the moment than astronauts," Payette said, adding she'll be playing with a number of robots herself during the mission.

Payette will be operating the Canadarm to inspect the Endeavour for damages. She will also be handling the Canadarm2 and a smaller Japanese robotic arm.

Payette said the international co-operation involved in building and operating the space station is an extraordinary achievement.

"It's the United Nations . I think that if we're gonna remember something about the first decade of the years 2000 it's probably the achievements of the International Space Station," she said.

"That will survive in the history books as the first time human beings have put their brains, their resources, their hearts together to build a station, [and] advance knowledge in a peaceful manner."