CREW 19/20 . ... Canadian Space Agency Astronaut, Canada . ... He began astronaut training in February 1984 and served as backup payload specialist to Marc Garneau, the first Canadian astronaut for the October 1984 Challenger shuttle mission (STS-41-G). ... In August 1998 he was assigned by the Canadian Space Agency to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, to participate in the training program for flights on the shuttle and ISS, where he passed training as a mission specialist. ...