Jenni Gibbons

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Jenni Gibbons
Gibbons, wearing her blue Canadian Space Agency uniform bearing the flag of Canada, smiles at the camera, her hands folded.
Gibbons in 2017
Born
Jennifer Anne MacKinnon Sidey

(1988-08-03) 3 August 1988
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
EducationMcGill University (BEng)
Jesus College, Cambridge (PhD)
Space career
CSA astronaut
Selection2017 CSA Group
NASA Group 22 (2017)

Jennifer Anne MacKinnon Sidey-Gibbons (born 3 August 1988) is a Canadian astronaut, engineer, and academic. She was selected by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) as one of the two members of the 2017 CSA Group alongside Joshua Kutryk. In 2023, CSA assigned her to be Jeremy Hansen's backup for the Artemis II lunar flyby mission.[1]

Early life and education

Jennifer Anne MacKinnon Sidey was born on 3 August 1988 in Calgary.[2][3] She earned a Bachelor of Engineering with honours in mechanical engineering from McGill University, where she conducted research in collaboration with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the Flight Research Laboratory of the National Research Council Canada on flame propagation in microgravity.[3]

In 2015, she completed a PhD in engineering at Jesus College, Cambridge. Her doctoral research, supervised by Nondas Mastorakos, focused on combustion processes.[2]

Academic career

Before joining the CSA, Gibbons was a lecturer in internal combustion engines at the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge. Her research centred on turbulent flame dynamics and pollutant reduction in combustion systems.[4] She also taught undergraduate and graduate students in the Energy, Fluid Mechanics, and Turbomachinery Division on topics such as energy production, thermodynamics, and flame physics.

Awards and honours

In 2016, Gibbons received the Institution of Engineering and Technology's Young Woman Engineer of the Year Award and a Royal Academy of Engineering Young Engineer of the Year Award.

In 2023, she was selected by The Karman Project for the Karman Fellowship.[5]

CSA career

Gibbons (left) with the other backup and prime crewmembers of Artemis II after a news conference in December 2024

Gibbons was selected by the CSA in 2017 as part of its fourth astronaut recruitment campaign, joining Joshua Kutryk in the 2017 CSA Group.[6][7] She was the third female astronaut candidate chosen by the CSA, following Roberta Bondar and Julie Payette. At 28 years old, she became the youngest astronaut candidate ever selected by the agency.[8]

In July 2017, Gibbons relocated to Houston, to complete the two-year NASA Astronaut Candidate Training Program at the Johnson Space Center, training alongside the 2017 NASA astronaut class. She graduated in 2020.

In 2020, Gibbons was certified as a capsule communicator (CAPCOM). She first served as CAPCOM during Expedition 63 and supported a series of spacewalks in 2021 to upgrade the International Space Station's solar arrays.[3]

On 22 November 2023, she was announced as the backup crew member for Jeremy Hansen on the Artemis II mission.[9][10] She was also assigned to support launch operations as an astronaut support person responsible for final spacecraft configuration and served as CAPCOM during the mission.[11][3][12] Artemis II was a crewed test flight of the Orion spacecraft on the Space Launch System (SLS), that lifted off on 1 April 2026.[13][14]

References

  1. Lundy, Thomas (23 July 2024). "Jenni Gibbons on her role in Canada's return to the moon". Canadian Geographic. Royal Canadian Geographical Society. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  2. Sidey, J. A. M. (2015). Experimental and numerical investigations of highly preheated and diluted flames (PhD thesis). University of Cambridge. OCLC 1064667170.
  3. "Biography of Jenni Gibbons". Canadian Space Agency. Ottawa: King's Printer for Canada. 22 November 2023. Archived from the original on 22 November 2023. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  4. "Dr. Jenni A. M. Sidey — CUED Division A". www-diva.eng.cam.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 4 July 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  5. "Jenni Sidey-Gibbons Astronaut Canadian Space Agency | The Karman Project". www.karmanproject.org. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
  6. Semeniuk, Ivan (3 July 2017). "Pushed to the limits, Canada's two newest astronauts eager for space". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. pp. A1, A10. ProQuest 2459946700. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  7. Dunham, Jackie (1 July 2017). "Jennifer Sidey and Josh Kutryk: Canada's two newest astronauts revealed". CTV News. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  8. Buckiewicz, Amanda (31 January 2020). "How fire scientist Jenni Sidey-Gibbons became Canada's youngest astronaut". CBC Radio.
  9. "Canadian Space Agency astronauts Jenni Gibbons and Joshua Kutryk to contribute to future missions, from the International Space Station to the Moon". Cision. Longueuil, Quebec. CNW Group. 22 November 2023. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  10. Nassar, Hana Mae (22 November 2023). "Canadian astronauts receive new assignments". CityNews. Vancouver. Archived from the original on 22 November 2023. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  11. Yellin, Aditi Sangal, Lily Hautau, Elise Hammond, Ashley Strickland, Kirsi Goldynia, Asuka Koda, Jackie Wattles, Jacopo Prisco, Kit Maher, Katie Hunt, Tal (1 April 2026). "Live updates: Artemis II begins its journey to the moon". CNN. Retrieved 3 April 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. Jaramillo, Antonia (23 December 2025). "Get In, We're Going Moonbound: Meet NASA's Artemis Closeout Crew". NASA. Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  13. Clark, Stephen (21 February 2026). "NASA says it needs to haul the Artemis II rocket back to the hangar for repairs". Ars Technica. Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  14. Howell, Elizabeth (3 July 2024). "NASA announces Artemis 2 moon mission backup astronaut". space.com. Retrieved 20 July 2024.