Robert Thirsk

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Robert Thirsk

Canadian astronaut

Also known as: Robert Brent Thirsk

Written by Erik Gregersen

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

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In full:: Robert Brent Thirsk

Born:: August 17, 1953, New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada (age 71)

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Robert Thirsk (born August 17, 1953, New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada) is the first Canadian astronaut to make a long-duration spaceflight. Thirsk received bachelor’s and master’s degrees, respectively, in mechanical engineering from the University of Calgary in 1976 and from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1978. He earned a doctorate in medicine in 1982 from McGill University in Montreal. He was practicing medicine at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Montreal in 1983 when he was selected as one of the first six Canadian astronauts. Thirsk was the backup to Marc Garneau when the latter became the first Canadian in ...(100 of 372 words)

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