{"id":693422,"date":"2026-05-25T11:44:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T11:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/693422\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T11:44:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T11:44:12","slug":"australias-first-astronaut-reveals-space-mission-offer-during-wa-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/693422\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia\u2019s first astronaut reveals space mission offer during WA visit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Jenny Schon\" data-testid=\"author-avatar-image\" height=\"64\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ada3a10ad5fe52e0100f140f3b3ef12fea2143ea55f3aae93af59d37a18c201c.png\"  width=\"64\" class=\"sc-9a01536c-0 libeSR\"\/>Save<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-d1b14060-4 JmUoF\">You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n<p>Remove items from your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.watoday.com.au\/goodfood\/saved\" class=\"sc-3f16ee48-12 sc-d1b14060-2 jyLmZI iQLtAb\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n<p>AAA<\/p>\n<p>Katherine Bennell-Pegg has made her pitch for the stars while touching down in Goldfields.<\/p>\n<p>The first qualified astronaut under the Australian flag has been invited by the European Space Agency to take part in a mission to the International Space Station.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Australian astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg.\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/84f17afbaa89aa78c4db6fcdbd7adba1d2f60d18.jpeg\"  class=\"sc-d34e428-1 ldCIuB\"\/>Australian astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg.Australian Space Agency<\/p>\n<p>The 2026 Australian of the Year told 9News Perth on Monday that becoming an astronaut had been a childhood dream come true.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt said to me that a door has been opened for Australia to take its place at the forefront of human endeavour,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Bennell-Pegg achieved that goal after years of studying and training with the Australian Space Agency.<\/p>\n<p>Editor&#8217;s pick<a href=\"https:\/\/www.watoday.com.au\/national\/western-australia\/labor-wants-its-20-per-cent-gas-reservation-scheme-to-apply-nationally-what-does-that-mean-for-wa-20260525-p600jy.html\" tabindex=\"-1\" class=\"sc-cba76dee-0 hdiTqm\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Santos,one of the largest Australian oil and gas companies, could be impacted by the commonwealth\u2019s domestic gas reservation policy.\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b2a2a132e8ae9acde4cb6ca952fec7f9f676d503.jpeg\"  class=\"sc-d34e428-1 ioInpc\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was so exciting when I was at the European Astronaut Centre and received this blue flight suit and the Australian flag was there for the first time on a professional astronaut flight suit,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>The offer has received federal government support but isn\u2019t a guarantee, as discussions are ongoing.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, industry and philanthropic donations are growing.<\/p>\n<p>The space engineer is also on a mission to inspire the next generation to reach for the stars, no matter gender or postcode.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhether it\u2019s mining engineers at the school of mines who can help us understand the surface of the moon or look after our robots better, or young people in schools where you can see the curiosity light up\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n<p>Kalgoorlie Mayor Glenn Wilson said it was an honour to meet her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve got a five-year-old at home who has ambitions of being an astronaut. Today I get to take that opportunity home to him, to say, \u2018Mate, that\u2019s an opportunity you have. We have astronauts in Australia\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The federal government said Bennell-Pegg was an extraordinary Australian.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHer determination to become the first astronaut in space qualified under the Australian flag is an inspiration to us all, particularly young Australians,\u201d a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n<p>9News Perth was flown in as a guest to cover Bennell-Pegg\u2019s visit to Kalgoorlie.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Save<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-d1b14060-4 JmUoF\">You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n<p>Remove items from your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.watoday.com.au\/goodfood\/saved\" class=\"sc-3f16ee48-12 sc-d1b14060-2 jyLmZI iQLtAb\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n<p>From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":693423,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[64,63,128,285],"class_list":["post-693422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=693422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693422\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/693423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=693422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=693422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=693422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}