Australia’s first astronaut, Katherine Bennell-Pegg, set to land in Perth next month to talk all things space

Australia’s first astronaut is coming to Perth next month to talk all things space with university and high school students, big business and industry representatives, and the wider public. Katherine Bennell-Pegg has made history three times, after becoming the first person to train as an astronaut under the Australian flag, the country’s first female astronaut, and the first candidate from an international partner to receive basic training from the European Space Agency. She was selected from a pool of 22,500 aerospace hopefuls to become just one of six space-flight-ready graduates. Back at the Australian Space Agency after returning from Germany, she will now spend a week in Perth from August 27 to September 2, where she will visit schools, universities, businesses and be a guest speaker in WA Museum Boola Bardip’s Conversation series. Ms Bennell-Pegg will meet with student researchers from all of WA’s five universities to share insights from her training to give students a stronger understanding of how research can impact the space sector. And she will talk to business and industry representatives about the range of opportunities Australia has to contribute to global space missions. The astronaut will also visit high schools to talk about her training and Australia’s strengths in the space industry. Ms Bennell-Pegg said she was excited to get to the west coast as part of her mission to inspire the next generation of the STEM workforce. “Western Australia has a lot of expertise and potential to contribute even further to global space missions — from cutting-edge research to harnessing the know-how of the resources sector,” she said. “That in turn improves life on Earth — whether it’s health breakthroughs, responding to climate change, uplifting our industries, or energising our kids to dream big and develop the skills needed to solve future challenges.” Australian Paul D. Scully-Power was the first Australian to enter orbit as an oceanographer in 1985. However, Andy Thomas was the first Australia-born professional astronaut to enter space. He was Australia’s first member of NASA’s elite astronaut corps and flew four missions over 12 years, spending a total of six months in space.