Jenni Gibbons facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jenni Gibbons
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Gibbons in 2017
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Jennifer Anne MacKinnon Sidey
3 August 1988 Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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| Space career | |
| CSA astronaut | |
| Selection | 2017 CSA Group NASA Group 22 (2017) |
Jennifer "Jenni" Anne MacKinnon Sidey-Gibbons, now known as Jenni Gibbons, is a Canadian astronaut, engineer, and scientist. She was born on August 3, 1988. The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) chose her in 2017 to become an astronaut. She joined the 2017 CSA Group alongside Joshua Kutryk. In 2023, the CSA named her as a backup astronaut for the Artemis II mission. This mission flew around the Moon.
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Jenni Gibbons' Early Life and Studies
Jenni Gibbons was born in Calgary, Canada, on August 3, 1988. She studied mechanical engineering at McGill University. There, she worked with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). Her research looked at how flames behave in space, where there is very little gravity.
Later, she earned her PhD in engineering from Cambridge University in 2015. Her studies focused on how things burn, which is called combustion.
Teaching and Research Career
Before becoming an astronaut, Jenni taught at the University of Cambridge. She was a lecturer in internal combustion engines. These are engines that burn fuel inside.
She researched how flames move and how to make burning fuel cleaner. This helped reduce pollution. She also taught students about energy production, how liquids and gases move, and the physics of flames.
Special Awards and Recognitions
In 2016, Jenni won two important awards. She received the Institution of Engineering and Technology's Young Woman Engineer of the Year Award. She also received a Young Engineer of the Year Award from the Royal Academy of Engineering.
In 2023, she was selected by The Karman Project for the Karman Fellowship.
Becoming an Astronaut
The CSA chose Jenni to be an astronaut in 2017. She was part of their fourth group of new astronauts. Joshua Kutryk joined her in this group. She was the third woman chosen by the CSA to become an astronaut. Roberta Bondar and Julie Payette were chosen before her.
At 28 years old, she was the youngest person the CSA had ever picked to be an astronaut. In July 2017, Jenni moved to Houston, USA. She trained for two years at the Johnson Space Center with NASA's new astronauts. She finished her training in 2020.
In 2020, Jenni became a CAPCOM. This means she could talk to astronauts in space from Earth. She helped during spacewalks in 2021. These spacewalks helped upgrade the International Space Station's solar panels.
On November 22, 2023, Jenni was named a backup astronaut for the Artemis II mission. This mission flew around the Moon. She also helped prepare the spacecraft for launch. She served as a CAPCOM during the mission. Artemis II was a test flight with astronauts. The Orion spacecraft launched on April 1, 2026.
See also
In Spanish: Jenni Sidey-Gibbons para niños
