Year 9 and 10 Columba Students had an amazing opportunity to hear a talk from NASA astronaut, Dr. Shannon Walker.

Dr. Walker is an accomplished astronaut with two space missions under her belt and close to one year of total time in space. For her first mission, she launched aboard the Russian Soyuz spacecraft as pilot; for her second mission, she was launched on SpaceX’s Dragon 2 spacecraft. For both missions, she docked and lived aboard the International Space Station where she carried out various science experiments.

The talk covered all the nitty-gritty aspects of space travel. This included the years of grueling training to prepare for every aspect of space life, the oddities and intricacies of everyday life in zero gravity such as exercising and vacuuming, and returning home from space aboard a flaming fireball.

Our students were receptive and engaged and asked some wonderful questions that elicited genuinely interesting responses from Dr Walker. Questions ranged from asking about favourite crew mates, the easiest and most difficult tasks in zero gravity, to the mental health impacts of being isolated from friends and family.

Students commented “two thumbs up” and “très bien” after the event.