Wilfrid Laurier University student Kristin Cobbett has been looking up at the stars since she was a child and now she’s one step closer to reaching them.
Cobbett is one of only 13 students from around the world to be accepted into Project PoSSUM’s Advanced Academy Program. The academy is a NASA-affiliated, hands-on, immersive training program for students interested in upper-atmospheric research, bioastronautics, science communication and human space flight.
Cobbett, a fourth-year biology and chemistry student at Wilfrid Laurier, said she hopes this will be just the first step towards her dream of becoming an astronaut.
Much of Cobbett’s passion for space comes from her father, an aerospace engineer at an American space launch company, United Launch Alliance. She said she has many memories of accompanying him to work and watching rocket boosters and explosives tests.
Despite her interest, she wasn’t initially planning to pursue a career in the aerospace industry. It wasn’t until she took an astronomy course in her second year of university that she decided to make the switch from psychology to biochemistry and pursue her dream full-time.
When Cobbett mentioned Project PoSSUM to him, his encouragement ultimately gave her the confidence she needed to apply.
“He’s always encouraged me to really push my limits and not have a back-up plan,” Cobbett said. “Once I got accepted [to Project PoSSUM], it became more of a reality for us.”
Haranas took her on as his research assistant and they went on to co-author and publish three research papers on modified Newtonian dynamics. He also connected her with the Greek magazine Ouranos, where she was featured in an article about Project PoSSUM and her perspective on the importance of space travel.
Cobbett also went on to win an award of excellence from the International Institute of Engineers and Researchers for one of her papers last March.
Haranas said Cobett has a bright future in the aerospace industry ahead of her.
“I would do anything to see her go into space,” the professor said. “She has guts. People say if you want to do something and you think about it every day, that’s it for you. She has the knowledge, she always excels, and she’d be a great candidate.”
Through Project PoSSUM, Cobbett will receive three weeks of preparatory webinars and five days of academic training, which have moved online due to the pandemic.
Training opportunities at the Florida Institute of Technology will include mission simulation, hyperbaric altitude training, and simulated high- and micro-gravity space flight in an aerobatic aircraft. This portion of the program has been delayed until the spring.
After graduation, Cobbett plans to join the United States Navy and become an officer to obtain flight experience while pursuing a graduate degree.
One day, she hopes to travel to Mars.
In talking about her childhood, she recalls never seeing many women at her father’s work.
“That was always something that motivated me, even at a young age,” she said. “I like to emphasize that I want to be the first person, not just woman, on Mars. I want to be motivating to young women and even young men in STEM. I want them to know that there’s really no barriers. We can all accomplish this.”
Featured graphic by Sara Mizannojehdehi.
