Julie Payette - Chief Astronaut for Canadian Space Agency

[Astronuc]

WAMC Radio, ALBANY, NY (2006-01-30)

The Best of our Knowledge (TBOOK)
WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND SPACE/JULIE PAYETTE, PT. 1 OF 2 -

While the U.S. often grabs the headlines when it comes to news about space, many other countries, including Canada, are very much involved in every aspect of space research and exploration. Regular listeners of this program will be familiar with our National Science Foundation series of stories highlighting the advances women are making in science, technology, engineering, and math. We found another wonderful example of that, and want to share this profile with our audience.

Julie Payette is the Chief Astronaut for the Canadian Space Agency, and is already a veteran of one space shuttle mission. She is a perfect role model for anyone listening who ever considered being an astronaut.

Julie Payette was born in Montreal. She's earned multiple degrees in electrical engineering and computer sciences. She's a member of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Payette is the winner of numerous awards, including an honorary degree from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. Julie has a commercial pilot's license, and enjoys many sports including running, skiing and scuba diving.

This multi-talented astronaut even plays the piano and sings. TBOOK recently had a rare opportunity to have this conversation with her about her academic career and astronaut training. Dr. Karen Hitchcock reports. (10:04)

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wamc/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=871933 (mp3 - one can download using 'save target as')

The Best of Our Knowledge #802

I highly recommend listening to this interview. I absolutely agree with Payette's comments. She's brilliant!

Some background -

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/payette.html

http://www.space.gc.ca/asc/eng/astronauts/biopayette.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Payette