Former astronaut becomes Canada´s governor general

OTTAWA: Former astronaut Julie Payette was installed Monday as Canada´s 29th governor general.

At 53, she is the fourth woman and third-youngest Canadian to take on the role of vice regal and commander in chief, replacing 76-year-old academic David Johnston.

Divorced from fighter test pilot Billie Flynn in 2015, Payette is also only the second Canadian governor general to be single.

Payette´s 14-year-old son Laurier and fellow astronauts were among the 400 guests in attendance in the Senate chamber for the ceremony.

"We are intrinsically bound by the same space-time continuum and are all aboard the same planetary spaceship (Earth)," Payette said in her speech.

Working together, she said, "we can do a lot of good... to diminish inequities, to tackle serious and pressing global issue like climate change, migration, nuclear proliferation, poverty and overpopulation ... because global issues know no borders."

Payette logged more than 25 days in space on two spaceflights in 1999 and 2009.

During those missions she was responsible for operating a large exterior robotic arm, and helped build the International Space Station.

She also served as capsule communicator at NASA mission control in Houston, Texas, and later as chief astronaut for the Canadian Space Agency.

There was a brief controversy when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced her appointment in July over her attempt to seal her divorce documents, which she eventually dropped.

It was also revealed that she had been charged with assaulting her husband in 2011, but the allegation was dismissed by investigators. The same year, she struck and killed a pedestrian with her SUV, which was deemed an accident.

Payette is also an engineer, an accomplished pianist -- having played in concert with the Montreal symphony orchestra -- and speaks six languages.

An astronaut´s helmet and the motto "Through hardships to the stars" graces her new official crest as governor general.