Edmonton man vying to become Alberta's first astronaut
'It’s been a lifelong dream since I was four years old,' Ross Lockwood said
For Ross Lockwood, the goal has always been the stars.
Now that the Canadian Space Agency is hiring, he might finally reach them.
"It's been a lifelong dream since I was four years old and I've been trying to fulfil all the requirements for an astronaut all my life," Lockwood said.
Lockwood said it's hard to know what to do to become an astronaut. So when the Canadian astronaut recruitment happened in 2008, he took a long, hard look at the application form.
"I essentially took that application and made that my checklist for the next 10 years," said Lockwood.
"Here we are almost 10 years later and now there is an astronaut recruitment. We'll see if I checked it all off and we'll see if I pass muster with the Canadian Space Agency."
Lockwood has a PhD in condensed matter physics. He said he got that degree because he "wanted as much experience with experimental hardware as possible."
The big break for Lockwood came in 2014, when he was accepted to the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation program.
Lockwood said the program is basically a four month long space mission to study the psychology of astronauts who would travel to Mars — except they'd be studying this on earth.
"It was situated on the slopes of the Mauna Loa volcano giving it that nice red ground. It looks like Mars, and it's such a high elevation there is no plant life and very little animal life."
The participants would have to live inside a dome, and anytime they went outside they were forced to don a space suit. They would go out on expeditions and map out the terrain.
Lockwood also tested how he would handle the gravity and the forces that astronauts have to deal with. So he got to "fly" in the Nastar centrifuge.
"In fifteen seconds I went from 170 pounds to a 1,000 pounds. It was insane," Lockwood said.
"It's a lot less violent than people think, but ultimately it's like you're being extremely cuddled by a giant elephant."
For Lockwood, a big part of the slow and steady journey towards his ultimate goal of the stars has been growing as a person as well.
It's a lot less violent than people think, but ultimately it's like you're being extremely cuddled by a giant elephant.- Ross Lockwood
"Part of the training was proving to myself that I wouldn't be scared of situations like that," said Lockwood.
"So far, it's bolstered my confidence."
Candidates who, like Lockwood, are hungry for more than what this planet's terrain offers, can apply on the Canadian Space Agency website.
Applications will be accepted until Aug. 15.
With files from Nicolas Pelletier and Kyle Muzyka