Indian-Origin Doctor Undergoes Training for a trip to space

Toronto: An Indian-origin neurosurgeon doctor in Canada is training for a scientist-astronaut project which give her the chance to conduct experiments in space a media report said.

Dr Shawna Pandya has completed her Masters in Space Studies at the International Space University and worked at both the European Astronaut Centre and NASA’s Johnson Space Centre. She is a guest lecturer at technology and the future of medicine course at the University of Alberta.

Shawna Pandya and her colleague Michael Gallagher, practicing in Edmonton, were getting training for Polar Suborbital Science in the Upper Mesosphere (PoSSUM) far-out Scientist-Astronaut Course at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida.

They returned from first phase of training on Wednesday and now will be accompanied by Ross Lockwood, a Ph.D. in physics at University of Alberta, when they visit Ottawa this week to complete spacesuit training and testing in zero-gravity.

The object of the training is to familiarise candidates with conditions that exist around noctilucent clouds, which are thought to be increasing in the upper mesosphere as a result of climate change.