A Canadian astronaut and former Powell River resident has received BC’s highest form of recognition, as well as a special award from the City of Powell River.
Dr. Robert Thirsk was one of 12 British Columbians who were invested with the Order of BC during a ceremony in Victoria on Thursday, September 6. Mayor Dave Formosa attended the event and afterwards presented the Freedom of the City award to Thirsk.
Thirsk was a grade three student in Powell River when he first learned about the wonders of spaceflight. He became fascinated and decided to become an astronaut. After earning degrees in mechanical engineering and medicine, Thirsk got his chance in 1983, when he was one of six successful applicants to the Canadian Astronaut Program, out of 4,000.
Thirsk pursued astronaut training, including time at the University of Victoria to enhance his medical skills, conduct engineering research and learn the Russian language. He also found time to earn a Master of Business Administration from MIT.
Thirsk’s first space flight was aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1996. In 2009, he spent six months aboard the International Space Station. On both missions, Thirsk performed leading-edge research, including experiments from Simon Fraser University.
The Freedom of the City award allows the recipient to vote in an election for mayor or councillor and, if a Canadian citizen, qualifies the individual to be nominated, elected and hold office on council.
Formosa was invited to attend the investiture ceremony at Government House. “I was very glad and honoured to be there representing our community,” Formosa said.
Formosa pointed out that Stewart Alsgard, the city’s previous mayor, had initiated the process to award the Freedom of the City to Thirsk. “We were fulfilling what he started,” Formosa said.
Thirsk said he has one of the most interesting jobs for a person who likes science and math. “I just do the job because I like working on frontiers and pursuing excellence, but it is really nice to be recognized by your home province,” he told the Peak during a phone interview. “That’s kind of special.”
Thirsk said he was surprised when he received the Freedom of the City award from Formosa. “I checked to make sure I didn’t have to pay taxes,” he quipped, adding the award brought back some wonderful memories.
He was a student at Grief Point Elementary School when he was first introduced to the theme of space, Thirsk said. “I had a dream start back then,” he said. “I know Powell River has a lot of people who have been doing great things in Canada. I think there’s a lot going on in Powell River that instills that in people.”
He remembers always spending his summers outdoors, Thirsk said. “A lot of kids today spend time in front of computers, in front of video games,” he said. “There’s something about family values in Powell River and community spirit and the quality of the teachers that makes it a hot bed for producing people that want to add value to society. It was special to be recognized by His Worship.”
Throughout his career, Thirsk has been a strong role model for youth. He has helped develop space-related curricula for schools, visited universities to discuss his work, and conducted live downlink interviews with students while in space, including with Powell River students.
Each of the recipients have made a contribution to BC in one way or another, Thirsk pointed out. “We all function and feel the obligation to be role models for other Canadians and especially the young generation, so they have a mark to set their sites on, an example to follow. I think that’s important.”
The highlight of being on the space station was working with people from different cultures to accomplish goals, Thirsk said. “It’s great to fly around the space station like Superman. It’s great to do the cutting edge research. It’s great to look out the window and look at your country that you came from as well as the other countries of the world. But the best thing about it is working with five other people from other cultures and with hundreds of people on the ground to accomplish all of the mission objectives. We had a pretty ambitious mission. A lot of the things we did we did for the first time ever. Just to be able to work with people of all different cultures to accomplish all that is kind of a nice, warm feeling inside.”
