Aomawa Shields
Early Life
Aomawa grew up in New Hampshire, USA. She wanted to be lots of things when she was young (including a cheerleader or an orthopaedist) but became interested in astronomy after watching the film ‘Space Camp’ when she was 12. Aomawa used to get up early in the morning to see Jupiter’s moons in the sky. She studied Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at university but then took a break from science, studying for a Master’s degree in Acting.
Research Areas: Astrobiology, Exoplanets
"There was always this feeling that I had to be a certain type of scientist… I don’t believe that anymore."
Piers Sellers
Early Life
Piers Sellers grew up in Sussex, UK. He watched the Apollo 11 Moon landing when he was 13 and decided he wanted to be an astronaut. He volunteered as a Royal Air Force cadet during school and learned to pilot planes and gliders. Piers studied Ecological Science (the interaction between nature and organisms) at the University of Edinburgh and went on to get a PhD in Meteorology (studying the atmosphere and weather) from the University of Leeds.
Year born: 1955
Research Areas: Climate Science
"to make the changes that we need to make and to reach a safer future, we need the resources of everybody"
Junichiro Kawaguchi
Early Life
Junichiro was born in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. He studied for a degree in Mechanical Engineering at Kyoto University and completed a PhD in Aeronautics at the University of Tokyo.
Year born: 1955
Research Areas: Engineering, Planetary Exploration
"the most important thing is creativity - not repeating the same way of doing things but finding completely new methods."
Ursula Marvin
Early Life
Ursula Marvin was born in Vermont, and grew up in New Hampshire, USA. She loved being outdoors but did not discover her passion for geology until she went to university to study history. She asked to change her degree major to Geology, but her professor refused and told her she should learn how to cook. Instead, Ursula took extra geology, maths and physics courses and went on to earn a PhD in Geology from Harvard University.
Year born: 1921
Research Areas: Meteorites, Moon Rocks
Gerard Kuiper
Early Life
Gerard was born in the Netherlands and loved stargazing from an early age. He had extraordinary eyesight that let him see stars four times fainter than most people could see. He studied astronomy at Leiden University and then moved to California, USA to work at the Lick Observatory.
Year born: 1905
Research Areas: Atmospheres and Moons
Claudia Alexander
Early Life
Claudia was born in Vancouver, Canada and grew up in California, USA. She wanted to be a historian, but her parents wanted her to be an engineer. Claudia discovered her love of planetary science during an internship at NASA’s Ames Research Centre. She was meant to be concentrating on engineering but kept sneaking off to the science section. Claudia studied for a degree in geophysics and a master’s in geophysics and space physics. She was awarded a PhD in space physics from the University of Michigan.
Year born: 1959
Research Areas: Jupiter’s Moons, Comets
"I feel like a modern-day explorer; the last frontier is space"
Spaceflight
One of the most famous space careers is of course being an astronaut.
Maggie Aderin-Pocock
Early Life
Maggie grew up in a working-class family in London, UK and wanted to be an astronaut but her teacher was not very encouraging. Maggie studied sciences and maths at school anyway. She went on to achieve a degree in physics and a PhD in mechanical engineering. She was not sure what to do when she left university. Maggie’s first job was working for the Ministry of Defence. She worked on systems to warn and protect aircraft from missiles and to detect landmines.
Year born: 1968
Research Areas: Mechanical Engineering, Satellites
"I like to try and translate some of the complexities of science into a simple format for everybody to understand."
Carl Sagan
Early Life
Carl Sagan grew up in Brooklyn, USA in a working-class family. Carl’s interest in astronomy began as a 5-year old child when he would visit the library to find books about stars. He loved science fiction books and became fascinated by extra-terrestrial life. As a teenager, he visited museums and science fairs, to learn as much as he could. He went to university aged 16, to study physics, alongside genetics, chemistry, and biology.
Year born: 1934
Research Areas: Extraterrestrial Life, Planetary Science
"Not explaining science seems to me perverse.
When you're in love, you want to tell the world."