Payette, Julie (1963– )

Canadian astronaut. She flew on the Discovery mission in May 1999 for the first manual docking with the International Space Station, operating the Canadarm during the flight. She is the chief astronaut for the Canadian Space Agency and went on to become a CapCom (spacecraft communicator) at the Mission Control Center in Houston. Payette was selected as an astronaut for the Canadian Space Agency in 1992, and began training at NASA's Johnson Space Center in 1996.