Q&A: Dr Meganne Christian, the Australian astronaut shooting for the moon

She’s the first Australian woman to be selected for astronaut training. So how is Dr Meganne Christian getting ready?

Learning curve: Meganne Christian in Antarctica

Why did you want to become an astronaut? I always thought it was the coolest job in the world. It was the unknown, that adventure, that challenge, getting to do something that not many people get to do. But growing up in Wollongong, I didn’t think it was an option for me because at that time Australia didn’t have a space agency let alone a human flight program. It didn’t really come back as a concrete opportunity until I spent a year in Antarctica.

From space to Antarctica, you’ve really covered the spectrum of human exploration... In Antarctica I was running experiments for other people who couldn’t be there, and that’s basically what astronauts do on the International Space Station. Before I went to Antarctica there were a lot of technical skills that I didn’t have. I was doing natural science rather than applied science, so I had to learn a lot really quickly – and it turned out I was good at it.

What was that year like? It was life-changing. The conditions were tough – it got down to minus 80. Concordia Station, where I was based, is in the middle of Antarctica. It’s more extreme than the South Pole. There were 13 of us and for nine months we were completely isolated. If something happened no one could come in and rescue us. I was working outside all day – my labs were outside and I had to launch a weather balloon every day. One hundred days of darkness really plays tricks on your body. I noticed that any emotion I had was really complicated. But the experience really taught me a lot about myself and the limits I thought I had.

You’re a member of the European Space Agency’s astronaut class of 2022 – one of 17 candidates from a pool of more than 22,500 applicants – and the first Australian woman to be selected for astronaut training. What does that training entail? It’s a bit of a waiting game. At the European Space Agency they have fewer flights than NASA but they want to keep up their record that everybody gets a mission – to the International Space Station, and perhaps to the moon. At the moment they have five guaranteed flights to the International Space Station until 2030; the five flights are taken by the five career astronauts in our intake who are doing their basic training now. I’m waiting for a mission to become available. My day job is at the UK Space Agency, working on a strategy for what happens when the International Space Station is no longer around in the 2030s. My other job is being a reserve astronaut, which involves outreach programs and developing a training program for myself.

How do you develop your own astronaut training program? There are certain things that are very useful for astronauts, things that you can do while you’re waiting for your potential mission: advanced first aid courses, advanced rescue diver courses, flight training, centrifuge training.

So being selected for the astronaut class is just one small step? When I got to the end of the selection process, which was about 18 months, I thought, ‘Oh good, this is done.’ But no, that wasn’t the end. Now it’s just waiting and trying to do everything that I can to be ready for when that opportunity arises.

What would be your ultimate day at work? Getting into my space suit and climbing aboard a rocket to be shot into space. I think it could happen in the next couple of years.

Meganne Christian will give the keynote speech at the Sydney Science Festival in Parramatta on August 19.