Katherine Bennell-Pegg | |
---|---|
Born | 1984 (age 39–40) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
Nationality | Australian-British |
Education | University of Sydney, (BEng, BSc) Cranfield University (MSc) Luleå University of Technology (MSc) |
Occupation | Australian Space Agency Director of Space Technology |
Space career | |
Australian space systems engineer | |
Previous occupation | Airbus UK Airbus Defence and Space Australian Army Reserves |
Katherine Bennell-Pegg (born 1984) is a space systems engineer serving as the Director of Space Technology at the Australian Space Agency. She is a dual Australian and British citizen.
Bennell-Pegg was born in Sydney and grew up in the Northern Beaches area. [1] [2] She completed a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours), Aeronautical & Space Engineering and a Bachelor of Advanced Science majoring in Physics at the University of Sydney. [3]
She received a Erasmus Mundus full scholarship to study in Germany, Sweden, United Kingdom and the Netherlands as part of the Joint European Master in Space Science and Technology programme. [4] Under this program, she completed two master degrees in a Master of Science in Astronautics and Space Engineering at Cranfield University (1st prize shared) and a Master of Science in Space Technology at Luleå University of Technology.
She also conducted the Space Studies Program at the International Space University, along with an internship at the European Space Agency as a Thermal Engineer and an internship at NASA Ames designing a low-cost spacecraft development platform.
Bennell-Pegg also served in the Australian Army Reserve for which she was awarded the Sword of Honour and the Sir Thomas Blamey Memorial Award. [5]
Bennell-Pegg's first job after her MScs was as a mission systems engineer at Airbus UK, working on a range of future missions and concept studies, including Martian in-situ resource utilisation (ISRU), future remote sensing missions and space debris removal. She also worked as a thermal architect on the LISA Pathfinder team during the thermal test campaign.
She was transferred to Airbus Defence and Space Germany in 2016 where she worked as a project manager and systems engineer of advanced and robotic projects as well as being the Service Operations Lead for the Bartolomeo International Space Station Platform .
Bennell-Pegg moved back to Australia to support the Australian industry and started her position as the Assistant Manager of Space Capability and Robotics & Automation at the Australian Space Agency based in Adelaide, South Australia. In 2022 she was promoted to the role of Director of Space Technology.
In 2022, Bennell-Pegg delivered The Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering Innovation Lecture. [5]
Bennell-Pegg applied to join the European Astronaut Corps as a British dual citizen in early 2021. [6] She was one of the 25 finalists for the 2022 ESA Astronaut Group, but was not selected as part of the 17-person crew. [7] However, the Australian Space Agency has sponsored her training with the European Space Agency announcing in March 2023 that she would train alongside the mission crew at the European Astronaut Centre. She completed the ESA Basic Training curriculum and graduated with her ESA classmates on the 22nd of April 2024, [8] though she is not part of a mission or foreseeable flight opportunity. [9] [10]
In March 2023, she was named as the overall winner in addition to the winner of the Leader of the Year category at the Woman of the Year Awards in Adelaide. [11]
The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 22-member intergovernmental body devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,200 people globally as of 2022, ESA was founded in 1975. Its 2024 annual budget was €7.8 billion.
The Canadian Space Agency is the national space agency of Canada, established in 1990 by the Canadian Space Agency Act.
Andrew Sydney Withiel "Andy" Thomas, AO is an Australian and American aerospace engineer and a former NASA astronaut. He has dual nationality; he became a U.S. citizen in December 1986, hoping to gain entry to NASA's astronaut program. He is married to fellow NASA astronaut Shannon Walker.
Claudie (André-Deshays) Haigneré is a French doctor, politician and former astronaut, the first woman astronaut of the French space agency CNES and the European space agency ESA which went to space.
Pedro Francisco Duque Duque, OF, OMSE is a Spanish astronaut and aeronautics engineer who served as minister of Science from 2018 to 2021 and member of the Congress of Deputies, representing Alicante, from May 2019 until February 2020.
Claude Nicollier is the first astronaut from Switzerland. He has flown on four Space Shuttle missions. His first spaceflight (STS-46) was in 1992, and his final spaceflight (STS-103) was in 1999. He took part in two servicing missions to the Hubble Space Telescope. During his final spaceflight he participated in a spacewalk, becoming the first European Space Agency astronaut to do so during a Space Shuttle mission. In 2000 he was assigned to the Astronaut Office Extravehicular Activity Branch, while maintaining a position as Lead ESA Astronaut in Houston. Nicollier retired from ESA in April 2007.
Bonnie Jeanne Dunbar is an American engineer and retired NASA astronaut. She flew on five Space Shuttle missions between 1985 and 1998, including two dockings with the Mir space station.
The International Space University (ISU) is dedicated to the discovery, research, and development of outer space and its applications for peaceful purposes, through international and multidisciplinary education and research programs. ISU was founded in 1987 and is registered in France and in the US as a non profit organisation. The university offers a one or two-year Master in Space Studies (MSS) in Strasbourg and shorter professional development programs across the world. The latter include an itinerant nine-week Space Studies Program (SSP), a five-week Southern Hemisphere SSP in partnership with the University of South Australia, a 6-week Commercial Space graduate certificate in partnership with the Florida Institute of Technology, and one-week Executive Space Courses in Australia, Europe and the United States.
Major Paolo Angelo Nespoli is an Italian astronaut and engineer of the European Space Agency (ESA). In 2007, he first traveled into space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery as a mission specialist of STS-120. In December 2010 he again traveled into space aboard the Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft as an Expedition 26/27 flight engineer. Nespoli's third spaceflight was on board Soyuz MS-05, which launched in July 2017 for Expedition 52/53. He was also the European Space Agency's oldest active astronaut prior to his retirement in 2019.
Karen LuJean Nyberg is an American mechanical engineer and retired NASA astronaut. Nyberg became the 50th woman in space on her first mission in 2008. Nyberg holds a Ph.D in mechanical engineering. She started her space career in 1991 and spent a total of 180 days in space in 2008 and 2013 as a mission specialist on STS-124 and a flight engineer on Soyuz TMA-09M.
Samantha Cristoforetti is an Italian European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut, former Italian Air Force pilot and engineer. She is the second of two women sent into space by ESA and the first from Italy. Cristoforetti holds the record for the longest uninterrupted spaceflight by a European astronaut, and she held the record for the longest single space flight by a woman until this was broken by Peggy Whitson in June 2017, and later by Christina Koch. She took command of ISS Expedition 68 on 28 September 2022.
Thomas Gautier Pesquet is a French aerospace engineer, pilot, European Space Agency astronaut, actor and writer. Pesquet was selected by ESA as a candidate in May 2009, and he successfully completed his basic training in November 2010. From November 2016 to June 2017, Pesquet was part of Expedition 50 and Expedition 51 as a flight engineer. Pesquet returned to space in April 2021 on board the SpaceX Crew Dragon for a second six-month stay on the ISS.
Andreas Enevold "Andy" Mogensen is a Danish engineer and ESA astronaut who is best known for being the first Dane to fly in space as part of the European Space Agency's Iriss program. Mogensen has also been involved in a number of other space-related projects throughout his career, including working as a test engineer for ESTEC and as a member of the European Astronaut Corps. In addition to his work with ESA, he has also worked with NASA and other international space agencies. Mogensen returned to space in August 2023 for his second spaceflight to the ISS onboard SpaceX Crew Dragon as the first non-American to serve as a pilot.
Alexander Gerst is a German European Space Agency astronaut and geophysicist, who was selected in 2009 to take part in space training. He was part of the International Space Station Expedition 40 and 41 from May to November 2014. Gerst returned to space on 6 June 2018, as part of Expedition 56/57. He was the Commander of the International Space Station. He returned to Earth on 20 December 2018. After the end of his second mission and before being surpassed by Luca Parmitano in 2020, he held the record for most time in space of any active ESA astronaut, succeeding Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli, and German ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter, who formally held the record for the longest time in space for any active or retired ESA astronaut.
Jeanette Jo Epps is an American aerospace engineer and NASA astronaut. Epps received both her M. S. and Ph.D. degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland, where she was part of the rotor-craft research group and was a NASA GSRP Fellow. She was chosen for the 20th class of NASA astronauts in 2009, graduating in 2011. Epps currently serves as a member of the ISS Operations Branch and has completed analog astronaut missions, including NEEMO 18 and CAVES 19. She is the second woman and first African-American woman to have participated in CAVES. She is currently in space for a long duration mission on the ISS, after launch in 4 March 2024, as part of the SpaceX Crew-8 crew.
Women have flown and worked in outer space since almost the beginning of human spaceflight. A considerable number of women from a range of countries have worked in space, though overall women are still significantly less often chosen to go to space than men, and by June, 2020 constitute only 12% of all astronauts who have been to space. Yet, the proportion of women among space travelers is increasing substantially over time.
Matthias Josef Maurer is a German ESA astronaut and Materials scientist, who was selected in 2015 to take part in space training.
Niamh Shaw is an Irish scientist, engineer, STEM communicator, writer, and performer.
The 2022 European Space Agency Astronaut Group is the latest class of the European Astronaut Corps. The selection recruited five "career" astronauts as well as 12 "reserve/project" astronauts. They are the fourth European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut class to be recruited.
Sophie Adenot is a French engineer, helicopter pilot, and astronaut. A French Air and Space Force helicopter pilot with the rank of lieutenant colonel, Adenot became France's first female helicopter test pilot in 2018. In 2022, she was chosen as a member of the European Astronaut Corps.
Sydney-born scientist Katherine Bennell-Pegg could soon be rocketing to the stars...
The sky was not the limit for the winner of the OCPSE Leader of the Year and overall winner, Katherine Bennell Pegg, who dreamt of being sent to space...