Lucy Howe- Reaching into Space!

 

Meet Lucy- the mind behind the Instagram famous Reaching Into Space account. Well known all around the world for her prominent voice in today’s space and aeronautics movement, Lucy shares with us how her story began…all the way from Australia!

“Hey, my name is Lucy. I am a 16 year old Australian girl who is passionate about science, technology, medicine, aviation, and education. For my entire life, I have always been serious about my education, because I know where I want to go and what I have to do in order to achieve my goals. In addition to learning, I also like to keep active and play sports such as Water Polo, Netball, and Basketball. I also love Swimming. Because of these pursuits, I am a very competitive and ambitious person. In my spare time, I love to go shopping, hang out with friends, take notes, read, watch science documentaries (spaceflight and history usually), travel, and spend time with family and my dog. In the future, I would love to become an Aerospace Engineer and eventually work at NASA, SpaceX or any other aeronautical/spaceflight agency or company. If all else fails, I would love to travel, teaching people of all ages about the wonders of space and the excitement of spaceflight and our journey to Mars and beyond!

My love and passion for Space has been around for as long as I can remember. I can recall being 9 years old and creating a portfolio of all the planets and their qualities. I was watching a documentary and became inspired by the beauty of the planets and how interesting each one was. I rushed off to my room to get stationary and all the essentials I needed to jot down and draw the information. My favorite planet at the time was Neptune. I liked Neptune because it was “pretty” and “beautiful.” I remember wanting to live on Neptune, because to me it was a beautiful planet filled with enchanted forests and rainbow skies. Growing up, I soon found out that Neptune was a gas planet, and if I were to live there, I would die from intense amounts of methane and ammonia. Despite this, Neptune is still my favorite planet, as it sparked my interest for space and lead me to where I am today.

After I rushed to school to show my grade 3 teacher the portfolio I had put together, my interest and passion for space started to decline. Growing older, I found more things that excited and interested me like sports. I never really fell in love with space again until grade 8 when I was issued an assignment on the Hubble Space Telescope. Thus, on June 4th, 2014, I resumed my journey and decided I still absolutely loved space, all thanks to completing the assignment. Primarily, I wanted to be a Rocket Scientist and do research on rockets, propulsion methods, and different fuels. Soon, I was also inspired by the Expedition 42 crew to the ISS, and thought maybe becoming an Astronaut would be even cooler! Don’t get me wrong! I still love researching and sticking my nose into a good book about rocket propulsion, fuel sources, and science. Another thing that spiked my interest even more was the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo crash and the Orbital ATK rocket failure. These two events happened around the same time, and I’ve always found Air Crash Investigations very interesting.

 

 

Some advice I have for others with similar aspirations would be TO NEVER GIVE UP. I’ve had people who have doubted me and my ambitions in the past years, and I have learnt to switch off from them and keep pushing forward because I believe in myself. Thus, another piece of advice I would give would be to ALWAYS BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. I feel once you have self-confidence, you can do anything. When you believe, you gain power and realize that what you’re striving for is real. Nothing should be able to take that away. For example, next year I am taking Advanced Mathematics and Extension Mathematics- two classes that could test, challenge, and tear me to shreds. My peers have told me I should be scared about doing these subjects, but I plan to give it my all and work harder than I ever have before. I have dreams and hopes of becoming an Astronaut, and all those who have doubted me along the way (including people who are close to me) will someday be proven wrong! Additionally, another piece of important advice I would give would be to do something every day that brings you closer to achieving your goal. This could be doing a single math equation, going for a hike, reading a book, learning a language, or just going to school. It doesn’t have to be something huge. A little spare time to do something that will bring you closer to your dreams would just put you in front of others and closer to reaching the stars!”

 

To keep up with Lucy’s amazing galactic adventure, you can check out her website at http://astronautlucy.weebly.com/. You can also follow her popular space Instagram account at: @reachingintospace!

 

Special thanks to astronautlucy.weebly.com and Lucy Howe for allowing us to access Lucy’s “About Me” profile.