A Richmond High Secondary alumnus and one of the original six astronauts of Canada has passed away.
Bjarni Tryggvason, who was one of the first generations of Canadian space explorers to enter the astronaut program, passed away at the age of 76, the Canadian Space Agency confirmed.
Tryggvason moved to Richmond in 1959 and entered RC Palmer Jr. High for Grade 9, according to David Sadler, spokesperson for the Richmond School District.
He then attended Steveston Jr. Sr. High from 1961 to 1964 and spent one year at Richmond High for Grade 13 during the 1964-65 school year.
Many officials, pilots and astronauts such as Chris Hadfield took to Twitter and other social media platforms with their condolences.
“Lost a good friend today,” said Hadfield on a Twitter post.
“Pioneer astronaut, engineer’s engineer, proud parent, inventor, test pilot. A kind, funny, original man – Bjarni Tryggvason,” Hadfield added.
Meanwhile, President of Iceland Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson also offered his condolences to the family and friends of Tryggvason on Twitter.
Jóhannesson’s post mentioned Tryygvason having moved to Canada at the age of seven where he “enjoyed a great career” including participating in a space mission in 1997 and “becoming the first and only Iceland-born person in space.”
The Reykjavik, Iceland-born astronaut grew up in Richmond and Vancouver, and studied engineering physics at the University of British Columbia. He worked as a meteorologist for the federal government and taught at universities in Canada, Japan and Australia before joining the space program in 1983.
His first and only mission was aboard the NASA Space Shuttle Discovery in 1997 where he orbited Earth 189 times, performing atmospheric experiments.
After his 12-day mission, Tryygvason continued to work with the program by developing equipment for NASA, the European Space Agency and the Russian program.
He left the space program in 2008 and returned to teach at the University of Western Ontario, now known as Western University.
Tryygvason was also a highly-skilled pilot on top of being a scientist and inventor. He flew acrobatics, held the highest rating licence for a civilian pilot and conducted proficiency tests in the Tutor jet trainer with the Royal Canadian Air Force.
-With files from the Canadian Press
