David Saint-Jacques is currently in quarantine in the Kazakhstan outpost of Baikonur. On the surface, that might not sound like the most exhilarating of experiences.

But that will change Monday, when the Canadian Space Agency astronaut leaves the Earth’s surface, lifting off in a Soyuz spacecraft from Kazakhstan and heading for a six-month scientific fact-finding mission aboard the International Space Station. He’s been training the last two years for this mission.

Getting to the space station may prove to be simpler than taking part in a virtual press conference from Kazakhstan. But after initial problems with his microphone on Thursday, the ever-smiling Saint-Jacques acknowledged that he was pumped for space.

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“It’s been an interesting last two weeks with last-minute preparations and, most importantly, to check the spacecraft,” said Saint-Jacques, who will soon be joined by his wife and three children in Kazakhstan. “But everything looks top-notch and we’re in good shape for the launch.”

The 48-year-old St-Lambert resident — he will be 49 when he returns to this planet — will be following in the rich tradition set by Canadian Space Agency explorers Marc Garneau, Roberta Bondar, Julie Payette, Bob Thirsk, Dave Williams, Steve MacLean, Bjarni Tryggvason and Chris Hadfield.

Like the aforementioned, Saint-Jacques is quite the overachiever. He was selected in 2009 by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) to go to Houston and become a member of the 20th NASA astronaut class. Prior to that, however, Saint-Jacques also worked as an engineer, an astronomer, an astrophysicist, a professor and a doctor. In the latter instance, Saint-Jacques, who earned medical degrees from Laval and McGill to go along with his PhD in astrophysics from Cambridge, was a physician and co-chief of medicine at Inuulitsivik Health Centre in the Inuit community of Puvirnituq in Nunavik.

And, oh yes, in addition to this country’s two official languages, Saint-Jacques is also conversant in Spanish, Japanese and Russian, which has come in handy lately in communicating at his temporary Kazakhstan base.

But crooning is one of the few gifts he hasn’t been endowed with. So unlike with Hadfield, don’t expect Saint-Jacques to be plucking on a guitar and warbling David Bowie’s Space Oddity or any other tune while in space.

“I don’t think I’ll try to top what Chris did in terms of entertainment,” Saint-Jacques said. “That was his project. We each go with our own personalities and our own ambitions.”

Saint-Jacques also allowed that there will be little leisure time at the space station, and with a smaller crew on board, the onus will be more on mission-specific work and experiments, in his case, relating to his medical background. But when given the opportunity, he will look forward to being fixated on “looking out the window and at the Earth below.”

Last month, a Soyuz rocket bound for the International Space Station failed two minutes after liftoff in Kazakhstan, resulting in a rather dramatic emergency landing, but the Russian cosmonaut and U.S. astronaut emerged unscathed. Regardless, Saint-Jacques is fully confident about his mission.

“Space flight requires all our attention to achieve success. But what happened then demonstrates once more that we need to look after every detail.

“But, frankly, what I’m most afraid of is that I will not be able to seize the moment while up there. I’ll appreciate the extraordinary aspect of the experience, but I’m the kind of person who gets really down into their work and the task at hand. So it will be my challenge to lift my head and look around where I am and let it all sink in.”

Interestingly, Saint-Jacques noted that in spite of the training and conditioning involved in preparation for astronauts, time spent in space can have adverse effects on health.

“Going to space is not good for you in any way,” said Saint-Jacques, who will be conducting research on the effects of micro-gravity on the body in space. “As a doctor, I’m well aware of what can go wrong and how it can be checked. Thankfully, we’ve developed a lot of medications. But it’s one of the main purposes of my going to the space station, to self-monitor the odd symptoms and the effects and how we can medicate that.”

He will certainly have the time for that at the space station and, if required — in his spacesuit, “a major spacecraft in the shape of a human body” — for a walk outside to do some station repairs.

Saint-Jacques went on to mention how he was struck, when he first went to Houston nine years ago, by the great reputation that Canada has in the space program around the world.

“Space is part of the fabric of Canada,” he said, referring both to the country’s role in space exploration as well as to robotics relating to the renowned Canadarm. “It’s very touching to realize how well respected Canada is here. We are a very trusted partner, and it’s something we can be very proud of.”

Saint-Jacques remains as much in awe of the concept of space travel today as when he was first smitten as a kid.

“I still see it as a kind of miracle that we manage to make these machines … and it is really quite the amazing feat of human ingenuity to have these life-support systems up there.”

bbrownstein@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/billbrownstein