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.

“I started off doing physics research in the European Space Agency and spent time at NASA in Washington, and now I have taken an interest in the engineering side of things,” she said.

Ms Picardo, whose area of expertise is in rocket propulsion, is currently working for her masters degree at ISU, a university which provides graduate-level training for the emerging global space community at its campus in Strasbourg and at locations around the world.

Students cover all disciplines related to space programmes and enterprises, space science, space engineering, systems engineering, space policy and law, business and management, and space and society.

Speaking on RTÉ, Ms Picardo said that as a result of her multidisciplinary course at ISU and her determination, she is hopeful of one day making it to outer space.

“I have gotten my fair share of incredulous looks over the years when I mention it, but I am still very hopeful. I don’t see any reason why not with increasing technology and more and more people going into space through tourism.”

However Ms Picardo added that politics plays a major role in determining who gets sent into space.

“In the EU, France and Germany would be the main players in terms of funding for the European Space Agency, and that is a big factor in how they choose astronauts.

“But what not many people realise is that Ireland is a part of the European Space Agency, so there is no reason why we shouldn’t make it into space.” she said.