3.  Garneau was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1984 in recognition of his role as the first Canadian astronaut. He was promoted the rank of Companion within the order in 2003 for his extensive work with Canada's space program.  He was also awarded the Canadian Forces Decoration for 12 years of honourable service with the Canadian Forces.  In August 2003, Garneau was made a Companion of the Order of Canada, Canada's highest civilian honour. He is also honoured with a high school named after him, Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute in Toronto and É.S.P. Marc-Garneau in Trenton, Ontario. Garneau is also the Honorary Captain of the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets. In addition, n o 599 Royal Canadian Air Cadets quadron is named in his honour.

4.  He was Canada's first astronaut and he became the first Canadian in space in October 1984.  In 1984 he was seconded to the new Canadian Astronaut Program (CAP), one of seven chosen from over 4,000 applicants.  He was promoted to captain in 1986 and left the Navy in 1989 to become deputy director of the CAP.  In 1992-93 he underwent further training to become a mission specialist. He worked as CAPCOM for a number of shuttle flights and was on two further flights himself – STS-77 (May 19 to 29, 1996) and STS-97 (to the ISS, November 30 to December 11, 2000).  He has logged almost 678 hours in space and is now retired as an astronaut.  In February 2001 he was appointed executive vice-president of the Canadian Space Agency, and became its president in November of the same year.

5.  Garneau was born in Quebec City and was educated there and in London, England. He earned a degree in engineering physics at the Royal Military College of Canada in 1970 and a doctorate in Electrical Engineering from Imperial College of Science and technology in 1973.  He joined the Canadian Forces Maritime Command (MARCOM, the Canadian Navy) in 1974 to work as an engineer. From there he went as an instructor to the Canadian Forces Fleet School in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He worked with the Naval Engineering Unit and in 1982 he was promoted to Commander.