Adelaide uni student Justyce Manton wants to be the first Indigenous astronaut

Justyce Manton has high ambitions to become the first Indigenous astronaut after a scoliosis diagnosis crushed her dreams of being a ballerina.

Justyce Manton always dreamed of becoming a ballet dancer, but a devastating scoliosis diagnosis at age 16 ruined her chances of a career as a ballerina.

Ever positive, she found her passions lie in maths and science and now she has the goal of being NASA’s first Indigenous astronaut.

“My diagnosis crushed my dreams of sport and dancing, and then I found my love through mathematics and science,” she said.

The proud Eora-Wiradjuri woman was born in Sydney and moved to SA soon after, where she has been living on Kaurna land ever since.

Ms Manton, 21, is currently doing a bachelor of mechanical engineering majoring in aerospace at the University of Adelaide.

“My passion is space exploration and NASA, anything to do with space.” she said.

She is one of 26 inspiring women who embody the spirit of a new campaign celebrating South Australia as a state that game-changers choose to call home.

The full list will be revealed in this week’s Sunday Mail and online on advertiser.com.au.

After completing a STEM Academy with the University of Adelaide in year 12, she was offered an internship with Defence SA, which ran for two years.

Justyce Manton tells her story as part of the SA inspiring women campaign. Picture: Tom Huntley

After giving up dancing she fell in love with mathematics in her first year of university.

“I fell in love with mathematics because the motion we display with our bodies can present equations and graphs, so yeah, it doesn’t end there.” she said.

“I guess I was smart with mathematics and science, but I didn’t perform the best that I could. I thought a pass was fine but once I took the time to actually sit down, study it, review it, the passion came in.”

Currently in her second year of her degree, she has been offered a BAE Systems internship and will be observing, inquiring and engaging in manufacturing projects including E-7A Wedgetail and the P-8A Poseidon.

“I love the ethics and their principles for the company and what they stand for, and how international and well-known they are.” she said.

Ms Manton has high ambitions to get into the space industry and become the first Indigenous woman to be an astronaut for NASA.

“My reality sort of dream is to be in the defence or aerospace sector, but if I were to push that dream into the clouds, I would love to be the first Indigenous astronaut.” she said.

Ms Manton said she is very hopeful for her future, even though some days of study are harder than others.

“I’m loving it, there’s so much flexibility with what I’ve chosen to be … I got this experience from Defence SA where one day you could be sitting in the office and the next couple of days are travelling out in the field doing something … I’m absolutely loving it.” she said.