Chatham-native Erik Kroeker is one step closer to heading into outer space.
Kroeker, a staff scientist and a university lecturer at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is one of 17 finalists who are still competing for two spots as Canada's next astronauts.
You can see Erik Kroeker's full profile here.
Current Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen joined Canada's Science and Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains to make the announcement in Toronto Monday morning.
"I have absolute confidence that I would be happy to get in a rocket with any one of these candidates... and fly to space," says Hansen. "Maybe most importantly, live in a tin can happily with them for six months -- these are great people who embody what it means to be Canadian."
Minister Bains echoed those sentiments in his speech, adding that Canada's Space Advisory Board is in the process of answering some big questions about Canada's future in space.
"Will the astronauts we select this year eventually fly to the moon? To a deep space outpost far from earth -- or even to Mars?" asks Bain. "These are the exciting discussions that we are having and that are taking place right now."
The successful candidates are expected to be chosen sometime this summer.
You can find the video of the announcement below:
