Rolleston 17-year-old's astronaut dream a step closer with US trip

Amber Collishaw used to look at the night sky and dream of exploring space. Photo: Supplied

When Amber Collishaw was a young girl, she would look up at the stars and dream of one day becoming an astronaut.

In July, the 17-year-old will be a step closer to her goal when she spends two weeks at the United Space School in Houston, Texas.

She was one of 48 people globally selected to participate in a range of activities, including planning a simulated mission to Mars.

Amber, who lives in Rolleston, has always loved space and would spend time in her backyard gazing at the stars.

“I used to go camping out in the garden and look up at the sky,” she said.

With her sister Hazel, they built a toy telescope out of toilet rolls, which later got upgraded to a real telescope.

“We used to look up at the stars and occasionally we’d find planets ... Mars was quite a big one - always look for the red planet.”

Amber Collishaw when she was nine with NASA astronaut, James F Reilly ll. Photo: Supplied

At the space school, Amber will take part in planning a simulated mission to Mars and connect via a video link with astronauts on the International Space Station, which is orbiting the Earth.

Amber plans to study engineering at Canterbury University and also aims to get flying lessons.

“I’d always imagine what’s actually beyond what we can see out there. I definitely always dreamed of getting up there one day.”

When she was nine, while travelling with her parents to an Irish dancing competition, she got the chance to visit Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

“That was when my parents noticed I was really interested in everything there.”

As part of the space school application, Amber had to write two essays - one about space travel and the other a personal profile.

She then had an interview with a panel of Nasa staff.

A week later she had been accepted into the course.

“I was just walking out of the school gate, just about to head home and I looked down at my phone and congratulations came up.

“I kind of just stopped where I was and stared at my phone. My friend was next to me so I stared at her, then I screamed.

“Next moment I was apparently shouting ‘I got into Nasa’. I was screaming, trying to call my parents.

“I had to sit down and give myself a good 20 minutes before I could carry on and process what happened.”

During the course, Amber will be under the mentorship of engineers, scientists, astronauts and leaders in the aerospace industry.

“We will participate in a variety of space-related activities at the Johnson Space Center, the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, the University of Houston-Clear Lake, Rice University, Space Center Houston, the George Observatory at Brazos Bend State Park,” she said.