— Astronaut Marc Garneau, who in 1984 became the first Canadian to fly into space, has died at the age of 76.

Garneau flew on three U.S. space shuttle missions, was president of the Canadian Space Agency and served in Canada's Parliament for 15 years.

Garneau's wife issued a statement upon his death on Wednesday (June 4).

"Marc faced his final days with the same strength, clarity and grace that defined his life," wrote Pam Garneau. "He passed away peacefully, surrounded by the love of his family."

"I join all Canadians tonight in mourning the passing of Marc Garneau," said Mark Carney, the Prime Minister of Canada, in a statement. "A naval officer, a history-making astronaut, and a public servant of exceptional distinction, he brought dedication and duty to every post he held. I extend my deepest condolences to his family, friends, colleagues, and to all Canadians who looked to him for inspiration. May we all remember him for the national pride and possibility he represented to us all."

Garneau was the only member of Canada's military to be selected to become one of Canada's first six astronauts in 1983. He made his first spaceflight launching as a payload specialist on NASA's STS-41G mission on the space shuttle Challenger on Oct. 5, 1984.

A member of the first seven-person crew, Garneau flew alongside Robert Crippen, Jon McBride, David Leestma, Sally Ride, Kathy Sullivan and Paul Scully-Power.

Garneau became the first Canadian to see firsthand the Canadarm, the remote manipulator system that Canada contributed to the U.S. space shuttle program, as it was used on orbit. Among his package of 10 Canadian-sponsored experiments was a test of a vision system that improved control of the robotic arm.

He also oversaw tests exposing different advanced composite materials to the vacuum of space and conducted several experiments on how humans adapt to spaceflight on behalf of Canada's National Research Council, the predecessor to the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), which was founded in 1989.

"[Garneau] was big into solar physics, so he did a lot of experimentation on our flight, studying our sun with photography and other sources," said McBride, STS-41G's pilot, in a 2012 NASA oral history interview.

The eight-day flight ended with a touchdown on Oct. 13, 1984, at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida.

Garneau's next mission came more than a decade later, in part due to the loss of Challenger and its STS-51L crew in 1986. In the interim, he was named deputy director of the Canadian Space Agency's astronaut program in 1989 and then was selected to train a NASA mission specialist in 1992.

As part of his increased responsibilities at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Garneau served as a capcom (capsule communicator) in NASA's mission control.

On May 19, 1996, Garneau launched on his second shuttle mission, STS-77, on board the orbiter Endeavour. His crewmates included John Casper, Curt Brown, Andy Thomas, Dan Bursch and Mario Runco.

During the 10-day flight, Garneau flew with several more Canadian experiments, including the Commercial Float Zone Furnace (CFZF), a chamber used to grow large, highly pure crystals for use with semiconductors, for which he was responsible. Garneau also took control of the Canadarm in Endeavour's payload bay to deploy and retrieve Spartan, a free-flying platform for space research.

Fellow Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield supported Garneau and his crewmates as a capcom during the mission.

"Marc Garneau was my role model, mentor, 30-plus year close friend and a brave and exemplary Canadian for us all," wrote Hadfield on social media Wednesday. "The world has lost a very good man."

STS-77 landed on May 29, 1996 at the Kennedy Space Center.

Four and half years, Garneau lifted off on his third spaceflight, STS-97, on Dec. 2, 2000. His crewmates aboard Endeavour were Brent Jett, Michael Bloomfield, Joe Tanner and Carlos Noriega.

The mission brought Garneau to the International Space Station, where he used the Canadarm to mount the orbiting laboratory's first pair of electricity-generating solar array wings. Garneau also supported Tanner and Noriega as they went out on spacewalks to complete the installation of the arrays.

The last human spaceflight of the 20th century, Endeavour's touchdown in Florida on Dec. 11, 2000, also marked the end of Garneau's final mission. In total, he logged 29 days, one hour and 59 minutes in flight, having circled Earth 465 times.

Joseph Jean-Pierre Marc Garneau was born on Feb. 23, 1949 in Quebec City, Quebec. In 1970, he graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada with a bachelor of science in engineering physics and joined the Canadian Forces Maritime Command.

In 1973, Garneau earned a doctorate in electrical engineering from the Imperial College of Science and Technology in London, England. The next year, he served as a combat systems engineer aboard the HMCS Algonquin, an Iroquois-class destroyer in service to the Canadian Navy.

Garneau then became an instructor in naval weapon systems at the Canadian Forces Fleet School in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he designed a simulator to train weapons officers. In 1977, he served as a project engineer in naval weapon systems in Ottawa and then returned to Halifax with the Naval Engineering Unit until 1982, when he was promoted to commander while at Staff College in Toronto.

In 1983, prior to his selection as an astronaut, Garneau was transferred to Ottawa and became the design authority for naval communications and electronic warfare equipment and systems.

In 2001, after returning to Canada from Houston, Garneau was named executive vice president of the Canadian Space Agency and a year later became president, a position he held through 2005.

"We are deeply grateful to Marc Garneau for his extraordinary public service, visionary leadership and enduring contributions to Canada and the world," Lisa Campbell, president of the Canadian Space Agency, said in a statement. "His legacy will continue to inspire us as we advance the role of space in improving life on Earth."

Tapping into his celebrity as Canada's first astronaut, Garneau campaigned for and won a seat in Canada's Parliament representing Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (formerly Westmount-Ville-Marie) in 2008. He was reelected to the House of Commons in 2011 and 2015. That same year, he became Minister of Transport and then served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2021.

In 2023, Garneau retired from politics.

"Yes, I was an astronaut, but I don't want to be defined by what I did up there, but rather who I am," said Garneau in 2012, when he announced his campaign to became the leader of the Liberal Party and Canada's Prime Minister (he withdrew his candidacy four months later)."

"I am proud to have had the singular honor of being Canada's first astronaut, but I am more than that. I am the son of the son of a military man who stood up to tyranny, an engineer who understands that what turns science into magic is innovation, an executive who has run a major organization renowned around the world, and an educator and a teacher who has led an innovative and growing university. I am a leader," he said.

In October 2024, Garneau published his memoirs, "A Most Extraordinary Ride: Space, Politics, and the Pursuit of a Canadian Dream" from Signal (an imprint of Penguin Random House Canada).

For his service as an astronaut, Garneau was appointed an officer of the Order of Canada in 1984 and then promoted to the rank of companion in 2003. He was a recipient of the NASA Space Flight Medal and Exceptional Service Medal and was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame at the New Mexico Museum of Space History ini 1992, among other awards.

High schools in Toronto and Trenton, Ontario are named in his honor and a Royal Canadian Air Cadets squadron bears his name. In 2003, the Canada Post included his likeness on a postage stamp as part of a set celebrating Canadian astronauts.

Garneau was preceded in death by his first wife and mother to two of his children, Jacqueline Brown, and his brother Philippe. He is survived by his wife Pam and four children: Yves, Simone George and Adrien.