Boost for Michelle’s space hopes

MICHELLE McKeon’s hopes of becoming Ireland’s first astronaut received a boost yesterday when Taoiseach Bertie Ahern endorsed a joint FÁS/NASA pilot programme which will fund her trip to the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida later this year.

The programme, was in jeopardy after Saturday’s space shuttle crash, which claimed the lives of seven NASA astronauts.

However, the decision by the US government not to let the tragedy halt space exploration means 28-year-old Michelle’s dream may yet be realised.

At the FÁS Opportunities 2003 fair in the RDS yesterday, Mr Ahern said the FÁS project had his full backing, allowing Michelle travel to Florida for an initiation week in April, followed by six weeks’ training in June.

Michelle said: “I am overwhelmed. My fascination with space travel has always been there.

“As a child, I had this image of being able to touch the stars and it was one of the driving factors for me.

“That and the belief that we are not the only ones who exist, that there is more out there.”

Michelle’s studies in wetland ecology at Clara bog in her native Offaly were what first attracted NASA’s attention, when she discussed her findings with NASA representatives at last year’s FÁS fair.

Her hydroponics project, the growing of plants without soil, offered, among other benefits, the possibility of cutting down on the amount of oxygen astronauts would need to bring with them during space travel.

NASA representatives were so impressed with her findings that when FÁS approached them with their pilot programme, the Americans suggested her as an ideal candidate for the pilot programme.

And the weekend tragedy has not put her off.

“If anything, it’s made me more determined,” she said. “It terrifies me that something like this can happen and in a way, it’s a reality check, but science is a passion and the people who lost their lives in the Colombia space shuttle wouldn’t want us to stop.”