ALIA NEWS
Meet the astronaut
ALIA is pleased to announce that the
astronaut who will read Give me some
Space! by Philip Bunting is Dr Shannon
Walker. She will be reading the book
as part of ALIA’s annual literacy event,
National Simultaneous Storytime.
The book tells the story of Una, a
science-obsessed child who dreams of
exploring the universe.
In this video from NASA
(bit.ly/3re1nf3), Shannon describes
how she was first inspired to become
an astronaut after seeing the 1963
moon landing. She understood
that this goal was achievable after
exploring the qualifications of
astronauts as a youth and realising that
she could undertake the same studies.
Shannon pursued higher education
and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree
in Physics, a Master of Science and
a Doctorate of Philosophy in Space
Physics from Rice University. This
hard work resulted in selection as a
NASA astronaut in 2004. So far, she
has been on two space missions. The
first in 2010 where she spent 163 days
8 | INCITE Volume 42, Issue 3
Shannon Walker
in space, the second current mission
started on 15 November 2020 and will
run for roughly six months.
Shannon has an Australian
connection, which alongside her
commendable achievements, made
her a natural choice to be our reader.
Her husband and fellow astronaut,
Andy Thomas, has dual Australia-USA
citizenship. When Shannon went into
space in 2020, as part of the dual
NASA and SpaceX Crew-1 mission,
she brought with her a stuffed toy
kangaroo ‘Purra’.
There is a long tradition of
astronauts bringing toys with them
into space, since Yuri Gagarin, the first
human in space, carried with him a doll
given to him by his daughter. Purra
doubles as symbol of Australia and the
Australian Space Agency’s ongoing
partnership with NASA. You can watch
the video of Shannon and Purra on
the International Space Station here
(bit.ly/39azEpm).
Shannon is passionate about
the importance of space flight and
her excitement over being able
to undertake this exploration is
compelling. She has a clear love of
her profession and the challenges it
brings. She extolls the worth of her
profession: ‘I do believe that human
space flight is an imperative for our
planet and to be a part of that, to
keep the progress growing, I find
very inspiring.’
ALIA would like to extend our
thanks to Shannon for agreeing to be
our reader for National Simultaneous
Storytime. A link to a video of her
reading the book will be sent to
registrants as part of the event
alongside a range of other resources.
Make sure to register by 19 May 2021
to join the fun.
More information about the
event can be found on the ALIA
website. The event is supported by
Scholastic Australia, the Office of the
Chief Scientist, and the Australian
Space Agency.
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