Ep. 12 Soyeon Yi- South Korea’s first Astronaut

In this season finale, it's apt that we end with another astronaut. I speak with Soyeon Yi, South Korea's only astronaut who flew to the International Space Station for 10 days in 2008. A biotechnologist by training, she applied to astronaut selection as an afterthought, and was soon selected as the back-up to primary astronaut candidate Ko San. But a month before launch, Ko was swapped out and on April 8th 2008 Soyeon launched to the Space Station from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakstan. After her 10 day science mission, she returned to Earth joined by ISS crew members Peggy Whitson (NASA) and Yuri Malenchenko (Roscosmos). Due to a malfunction with the Soyuz vehicle, the craft followed a ballistic re-entry which subjected the crew to severe gravitational forces up to 10 times the amount experienced on Earth. Soyeon's energy and enthusiasm are infectious, she is a fantastic role model for young girls everywhere to commit fully to every activity you engage in. She motivates me always and I'm sure you will enjoy and learn from her story in this last episode of 'Humans of Space'.

 

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Humans of Space was produced by Catherine Cunning and Mark Gardener of Ox4 Studios, Oxford and music by Tom Beasley. To find out more, and to subscribe for further episodes, go to www.niamhshaw.ie for further details.  Follow Niamh on Twitter & Instagram at @dr_niamh_shaw. 

 

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