9 November 2022
Jacinta Bowler
Jacinta Bowler is a science journalist at Cosmos.
They were published in the Best Australian Science Writing 2022.
Andrea Boyd knew she wanted to work in the space field since she first saw Star Trek as a kid. The South Australian has ended up in a career as close to space as possible without leaving the ground.
Boyd is the ‘EUROCOM’ flight controller at the European Space Agency (ESA), meaning she’s the person who gets to talk to the astronauts on the ISS.
“Usually, the astronauts have to look up on the roster who’s talking to them, because some of the accents are quite similar … but nobody has to look it up when I when I talk, because I’m the only one that sounds like me,” says Boyd.
“I try and throw in a few ‘mates’ and ‘good as golds’ and other random things while I’m on space-to-ground with the astronauts.”
Cosmos Science Journalist Jacinta Bowler talked to Andrea Boyd about how she feels about being the Aussie ‘voice to space’ and what it’s like hanging out with astronauts all day.