By David F. Dawes

A VANCOUVER ISLAND grandmother got a long distance call from her son a while ago. "Bob called to check up on me," she said.

Routine for any dutiful son, no doubt -- but this particular phone call was made from a space station orbiting the earth.

Speaking from her home in Cobble Hill, Eva Thirsk told CC.com:."It has been a dream of his, to have a mission. He's been in the program since 1983."

Two days before astronaut Robert Thirsk took off, they spoke. "I asked him:.'Do you have any concerns, so I know how to pray for you?' He said:.'It's in God's hands.'"

On May 27, Eva was in Baikonur, Kazakhstan to watch Robert became the first Canadian to fly on a Soyuz spaceship. He is currently on the International Space Station, as a Mission Specialist for Expedition 20/21.

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In a NASA.press release, Thirsk said the trip "will be the supreme thrill of my life. Throughout the mission I will examine the long-term effects of zero gravity as both a test subject and a physician. My findings will undoubtedly contribute to the future understanding of space station living."

Adventure runs in the family. His great aunt was Jean Buchan, who served as a medical missionary in India for five decades.

"Bob always admired her greatly,".said Eva. In the early 1980s, Robert was sightseeing in India, and decided to visit Buchan.

"He helped her set up her dispensary.".The missionary, she said, "had a great influence on all her nieces and nephews. We all caught a glimmer of the love she had for others."

Asked how her son came to accept faith in Christ, she said it happened in the mid-1960s. "Robert was seven. His older brother, who was 10, came to the Lord -- and witnessed to him. He told Robert:.'You need to do this.' His family and his church also influenced him."

And how is this faith helping her son with his work?."He depends on the Lord for extra strength, and to help him make the right decisions."

Robert Thirsk is scheduled to return to earth November 27.

June 25/2009