Michelle sets her sights on an Irish first for space travel

THE sky is the limit for ambitious young people, but one young Irish rocket scientist is hoping to go a bit further than that by becoming the first Irish-born person in outer space.

Trinity College graduate Michelle Picardo, 24, said she has had her sights set firmly on the stars from a young age, and hopes her studies at International Space University (ISU) in Strasbourg, France will get her there one day.

“I suppose it started with looking at the sky as a child. It sounds basic, but every child looks at stars and thinks ‘what is out there?’, but it really captured my imagination. I was always interested in science and went on to do a degree in physics and astrophysics in Trinity.