The Cosmic Wonderers

Here is the page dedicated to the Cosmic Wonderer(s), which are aspiring astronauts/astronomers worldwide. We share their inspiring stories on how they were able to find their passion to be an astronaut/astronomer someday, on this page. In this way, we can inspire and encourage our generation to choose astronomy or STEM in general for the future of our society.

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Aspiring Astronaut Adityadhar Dwivedi 

I have been attracted to the cosmos since my childhood. Actually, my choice was totally different making me a weird guy staring at stars in night with enormous amazement. My passion is to live for to wander in the cosmos of infinity either by theoretical or experimental side. I want to become immortal of my dreams. I want to be cosmologist and unravel the mysteries prevailing our universe. I wanna gaze at stars with high powered telescopes and study them. My dreams makes me so much weird of my surroundings that I sometimes become lost in my own thoughts of infinity. Really, I like to pursue Cosmology.
Thank you!

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Aspiring Astronaut Iram from Pakistan!
Assalam.u.alaikum!
I'm a Muslim. My name is Iram Farooq. I'm 17 years old. I'm from Faisalabad, a city in Pakistan. I'm a aspiring astronaut for NASA. I love astronomy since I was 6 years old. When I was 6 years old, I ask others different questions about sky, moon and stars. When I was 7 years old I came to know about space life. I  were searching someone who listen to me and give me answers. Due to interesting answers, my interest in astronomy became my passion and I started to learn about space life at the age of 8 years. But due to lack of support and facilities about astronomy in Pakistan, I did not find answers of my some questions. In 2012, when I were a school student, I read a story book from school library. The name of the book was "Azeem Sciencedaan". This was a very interesting scientist's life and their work story book. After reading book, I became more interested in astronomy and life in space. 
During my school study i read a quote 'Imagination is more important than knowledge' I love this quote and then I started to imagine the space. Always at night I look up at the sky and see stars for a long time and imagine the space. I searched about that quote and know that the author of the quote is Albert Einstien. Then I read more quotes of Einstein from internet and followed them. 
I dreamed a lot about space. In my one dream I saw myself on moon with some other people. The amazing thing was that there was a colony on moon. But the reality is opposite. But my this dream moves towards mars. Now I'm a aspiring Mars girl Astronaut. But if i get a chance to land on moon then is enough. Because my goal is towards Mars and Moon as well. I studied hard at school, mostly in science subjects. In 2016, in my intermediate level part 1 final examination I got 87.3% marks. Good thing is that i got 142/150 marks in maths and 143/150 marks in physics because these are my favourite subjects, important for aspiring astronauts as well. 
I love flying. Therefore I decided to become an aerospace engineer as a starting career for astronaut, and wanna flying a helicopter. In 2017, because I got good marks in science and I love science so i choose science subjects as a pre-engineering student. Daily I search about space life, ISS and NASA Astronaut requirements.
People told me that not to become an astronaut because they thought that it's difficult and impossible for me, and I can't do it. But I did not believe them. I asked them that how is their tomorrow? They answered that they don't know and this is impossible to know! Then I replied that if they don't know about their tomorrow then how they know about my tomorrow!
Unfortunately, In Pakistan, there is lack of facilities and oppotunities for astronomy lovers but I keep doing what I really like and really wanna do. My parents always support me.
I advise others that please don't listen that what other say, only listen that what your heart says. Don't give others the right to change your dreams. Give this right only to yourself. Be confident. Think that you can do whatever you want.
I'm fully confident and ready for fighting against hurdels.
I'm The Mars girl @eyeofastronomy. 

Thank you!

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Aspiring Astronaut Aaron Shepard from America!

Since the Apollo era, 12 people have walked on the moon, however none of them were people of color. As a child Aaron Shepard dreamed of becoming an astronaut, voyaging across outer space, and becoming the first African American to set foot on a world beyond the Earth.

Aaron graduated with honors from Claflin University with a Bachelor’s degree in biochemistry. After working in the medical industry for a few years he decided to follow his passion for developing innovative technology. He enrolled at Clemson University to pursue a graduate degree in electrical engineering.

As a student Aaron conducts NASA funded research on robots modeled after elephant trucks and octopus arms. His work focuses on finding novel ways to use those robots to help astronauts accomplish various tasks in outer space. He hopes to develop technology for space exploration and one day have the opportunity to use that technology as an astronaut himself.

Although some of Aaron’s dreams are truly out of this world, there are plenty of goals that he would like to accomplish here on planet Earth. Aaron is a dynamic and charismatic speaker who is passionate about giving back to his community. He works as a tutor and mentor for the PEER & WISE program at Clemson which helps underrepresented students studying STEM subjects. In addition through public outreach and various workshops Aaron hopes to:

-Break the stereotypes of sciences being too boring/ difficult and show that with that work of scientists and engineers can be fun.

-Encourage more students, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds, to pursue careers in engineering sciences and mathematics.

-Help cultivate the next generation of technically savvy and culturally competent engineers and scientists.

In his free time Aaron enjoys running, video games, building drones and 3D printers, Latin dancing with his wife, and being lazy with his dog. As Aaron pursues his dreams he wants to ensure that others have the confidence and skills to pursue theirs!

You can also check out his website in this site https://spacecadetshep.com/

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Aspiring Astronaut Dustin Mullings from America!

Read his wonderful story below:

My name is Dustin.  I'm not sure if this qualifies or even close but I am currently a physics associates major on a transfer program that will take me Florida Institute of Technology where I plan to major in Astrophysics, Astronomy, and Astrobiology. I am a bit of a late bloomer when it comes to school and finally found my passion for Astronomy and the space industry in general. I would always obsessively watch the science channel, NAT Geo, or anything that covered the cosmos or space related materials. I realized I loved astronomy, the cosmos, and science in general. So, early 2016 I put in for a pell grant, and have been in school full time ever since. 

I've felt fortunate and grateful to be able to go back to school. I do not intend to squander my opportunities. I come from a not so ideal background. There was a lot of addiction in my background and a lot of overcoming trials. I don't know why I felt compelled to reply to this but I thought that maybe there are other people out there that hit their mid 30's without direction, and decided to pursue a career in S.T.E.M., decided that they were good enough to contribute to science, and live an amazing and productive life. I will be over 40 years old by the time I finish school.  I may end up at an observatory, a lab, or Mars if Elon Musk has his way. Wherever I end up working I intend to apply for Astronaut school. If I get in, great, if not, that's great too, because I'll be doing something that I love. Thank you.

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Aspiring Astronaut Jonathan Head from America!

Hello, my name is Jonathan Head, Im a junior in Highschool, I am 18 years old and I am from St.Marys Ohio. Which happens to be the town right next to where Neil Armstrong was raised. I have dreamed to be an astronaut since I was 8 or 9 years old, telling my dad that one day I will go to the Moon. But that changed about two years ago, when I got the sudden urge to be the first man to set foot on Mars. 

In Highschool I have a GPA of 2.9, and a B average for my 3 years in Highschool. 

I had since developed a plan, to get to Mars by the 2030s. My plan will start by me graduating Highschool and getting at least 23s on the A.C.T tests. I will also join the US Navy after Highschool, with the 23s on my ACT. I will then be able to get a $180,000 scholarship to Ohio State University, from the US Navy. With almost free college from the Navy, I will serve a total of eight years on active duty. My first four years, I will get a bachelors degree in Physical Science. The next four years, I will get a bachelors degree in Computer Science. While in the US Navy I will also join the NROTC to further education and become a Pilot in Command, where I will be able to get my 1000+ hours of piloting a jet aircraft. 

After eight years, I will then apply to NASA through the US Navy. That's where the training will comence. In my free time, I will attempt to go to every NASA facility in the US. I have also been correcting my vision naturally, by eating healthy. I figured I get myself noticed by going on Twitter and start my follower base now. 

Going to Mars isn't a race, whoever gets there first, made an achievement for all of man kind. If I am not the first, I will still be satisfied with what I have by then. I hope and wish everyone good luck, to all who wish to do the same as me.

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Aspiring Astronaut Fauna from America!
Hello, people call me Fauna. I am a 16 year old High School student from America. I first became interested in outer space at a young age, I have always loved looking up at the stars and wondering what is out there. My interest started to peak in Middle School and my pursuit for knowledge about the cosmos and my love for astronomy and astrobiology made me make up my mind right away about my future career. I wanted to be an astronaut. As a child I always fantasized about being among the stars, exploring the final frontier, but I never thought I would ever try hard to pursue this career.

I love science, specifically Biology, and when I learned of experiments on the ISS involving growing plants and seeing how life forms reacted to the space environment intrigued me. I wanted to do exactly what they were doing. I wanted to go to space but keep the aspects of Biology that I had always loved. I have researched a lot since then on the job subject.

I want to become an astronaut more than anything, it's my dream job. But I also have doubts when it comes to it. People laugh when I tell them what I want as a career saying it's impossible, or people don't believe me when I say I am into astronomy, and astrobiology because of the way I look (colored hair, piercings, clothing style etc.). I'm also not the smartest person in the world, but I am trying hard to learn more every day. Even if I have doubts I need to push forward to achieve my greatest dreams, I just need to keep telling myself that I can do it, I WILL get into space. You just need to believe and work hard enough and you can achieve anything.


Right now I am in search of space/astronomy courses or classes to take, and even possible scholarships. NASA and other space camps or courses are something I would love to do too!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Astronaut Kerouac from USA

I first encountered an astronaut in 5th grade when I met Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, and her inspiring story hooked me. Then I met Buzz Aldrin at a space festival. Both stories were incredible enough to make me wonder a bit more about space. Those two fateful encounters somehow made me realize something about space, and it was something I would never forget.

After that, in my 5th grade class, we were told to do a report on something we liked. I chose space. We were given containers with books and magazines on our subjects, and each were told to make a PowerPoint presentation on the information we got from our containers. We also collected some of it off of the internet. My presentation was the longest, and more likely than not, the most boring. But out of all that, I became convinced I wanted to be an Astronaut! Over the summer, I did a lot of research on space and the possibility of going to Mars. This research was a way to see how much I wanted to learn. It also had me a tad bit more interested in space than ever before. I was sure this would be temporary, but my “Space Odyssey” didn’t end in 5th grade.

In 6th grade I decided to not only inform myself about space, but also others. I decide to ask me teacher to see if I could teach, and do a lesson on space, and my idea was accepted. This prompted me to realize how  uninformed people were about space. It also showed me that I had acquired a lot of information over the years. Then, our teacher had us make a documentary on a sub-topic of space. My group and I chose space travel, and narrowed it down to one particular topic of space travel: Propulsion Systems. But we went even farther and narrowed it down to Franklin Chang-Diaz’s VASIMR (Variable SpecifIc Magnetoplasma Rocket), and decided to focus on it, and the information we had. This narrowing down of topics had a few meanings to it, one of which was that I had interested others in space by teaching them. It also meant that I found the best team, and that I would be a good leader. We were also told to get in contact with someone who might know more than we did. I contacted my friend, an engineering professor at SDSU, and got no more from him than we knew. We almost lost all hope.

I was determined to find someone though, and tried contacting NASA’s Phil Sumrall, a rocket scientist who had worked for 40 years at NASA and was working on NASA’s current program, the Orion Constellation Project. By the time NASA contacted me, Mr. Sumrall had taken the initiative to call me before NASA officially gave me his phone number. Him contacting me was something I felt was leading me in the right direction. His contact was also another fateful encounter and showed me that meeting renowned people was going to be necessary for my dream in the making. It also showed to others that I was capable of getting into contact with “big guns,” and ideally a completing my dream. A little while later, I recorded an interview with him over the phone, and constructed my documentary using his information and ours. After all of this, my astronaut dream was just getting bigger and better. But it didn’t end there, and for 2 years, my goal had absolutely no advancement, until Christmas 2012.

The next influence was directly from the heart of space exploration. On Christmas morning, I opened a package that contained a Space Camp shirt, a schedule departing from San Diego heading to Huntsville, Alabama. Space Camp is located in Huntsville, and it was also where Phil Sumrall worked, and where all of the rocket parts, plane parts, and other aeronautical vehicles were designed and tested. This was a dream come true, and it taught me that my dream should not be that, but be reality. At the end of Space Camp, Mr. Sumrall picked me up and granted me access to Redstone Arsenal, where he and Wernher von Braun worked. It was also there that my dream ended and became more than a dream, it became reality. I was also able to see that being an astronaut is a hard, demanding job, that takes a toll on your body.

My dream, which was without development for 2 years, became more than a goal, it became reality. The astronauts, the documentary, the lesson, all got the goal going. But Space Camp ended that. Space Camp not only helped me realize that going to Mars would be possible, it also interested me even more about Mars. Those fateful encounters changed my whole point of view on space. My plan: become an astronaut, no matter what. My newer plan: I will become not only an astronaut, but the first person on Mars. See you there!!

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Astronaut Sagarika Chikhale from India!

Hello, my name is Sagarika Chikhale. I am 20yo Aspiring Astronaut from India. When I introduce this to someone or someone ask about me, they react with big eyeball asking how someone like me have an interest in such a boring stream and I don't know why they think like that. Here I am saying today that Aerospace Industry is only amazing field having number of opportunities, not only this, this is addiction if you following this through internet, media and by mistake if someone ask you about space you will definitely not going to leave him/her until you get satisfied with your discussion.

It's really amazing when you are part of this. One question arises here why I love night sky, rockets, stars, satellites, etc. Well, since when I was in 6th standard I can remember looking up at night sky, I wonder what the stars where made of but most of all I dreamed to someday going there, only I knew that it would happen I would go to space.

This all come from when I was in 6th standard we had a chapter and name was 'An Indian-American Woman in Space', she was Astronaut Kalpana Chawla, 1st Indian Woman Astronaut. That time I was thinking by looking her picture in textbook, what she is she wearing like orange suit and was sitting with helmet and I thought biker instead of Astronaut. That was the first time I ever heard of Astronaut. When my teacher said story of her my whole life was changed. I have spent weeks for the searching of astronomy. Initially I had no sources to more understand space. I used newspaper cuttings to raise my knowledge. Along the way I realized that the journey that I traveled and those experiences was so important to me.

As we all know Abigail Harrison, famous teenage Aspiring Astronaut she said 'Space is looking for people who are passionate about what they do, not for those who think they are fit for this job' and I agree with her statement.

Through my journey I met two honorable person, Astronaut Story Musgrave from NASA and Lluis Gesa from European Space Agency (ESA). Astronaut Musgrave taught me one thing, do what you loved to do and if you really want to do it, just do it and Lluis Gesa showed me to chase your passion. Lluis inspired me to do things to inspire someone else about their dreams, the way he had that.

Firstly, you have your own ambition your dreams-Astronaut, Doctor, and Scientist whatever it may be and you need to talk this with other people. The first person other than me to believe in my dreams was my parents. I started saying I want to be an Astronaut when I was just a kid. They saw me with two diaries. Those were full of news newspaper cuttings from big bang theory to how to become an Astronaut. They said why you don’t be scientist or doctor. It’s not they discouraged me, they didn't believed. I still remember the day when I was in 10th standard I was still saying I want to be an Astronaut. That time my father said this is what you want to do, you need to start working towards it and think about how you going to get there. From that first time my parents become my biggest supporter.

Next, you have to acting big, this means, taking opportunities when they come upon you. When I organized an event in my college to inspire other that time for me to acting big, that event was biggest opportunity to present myself in front of other. All you need is to keep patience and stay strong. Even you need to surround yourself with those people who have dreams like you. For me other than my parents was my best friend Garima. She believed in me and my dreams, she supported me all the time and she still support me.

I believed that dreamers can change the world and everyone will support you until you support yourself. Must remember you can achieve whatever it is you wish to achieve. There will be setbacks, there will be doubters, there will be minded people who can think you are crazy and try to discourage you. But remember you create your own reality and you are capable of greatness.

Thank You...

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Tanya Singh from India
Tanya Singh is one of the first aspiring astronauts that I have come to know on Twitter. She possess a strong determination which is virulent that the people who have talked to her will immediately have the impression that she is dedicated to what she is doing. Not only does she wants to be a NASA astronaut in the future but she also wants to achieve her grandparents desire to see an astronaut. My friends, please welcome my friend Tanya and let us indulge in her own words as stated below on how she came to be an aspiring astronaut! Clear Skies!

From Tanya
I'm from keshalpur colliery,dhanbad, jharkhand this is in India. This place I used to live and it is a little bit village like area where   people don't get good network if u recharged for 2g internet pack u will find that it works slowly like 1g and 3g as 2g and also people don't know anything about NASA and space only few of them know about it. when I was in 2nd grade I heard the story of kalpana chawla (the first Indian astronaut went into space) from that time I want to be an astronaut and when I came to class 8th my parents asks me that what you want to be in future I said to my parents and family that I want to be an astronaut and want to join NASA after hearing this all the peoples asks me that what is NASA what type of job astronaut is? After hearing about it and job they all were in shock of two seconds including my mom also. They said that u can't be an astronaut it’s so hard and risky job. I'm belonging from a topical Rajput Hindu family where girls were not to allow even to do job if they are in village not in cities. For being an astronaut lots of money is required but my father has not permanent job he is without job from 8or 11years.I want to be an astronaut because of 2reasons one is that this is my papa's and grandpa's dream to see me an astronaut and second is that I want to prove them that I can be an astronaut. Being an astronaut is not only my dream it’s my life. This the short description of my story hopefully u like it.
Thank u

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Astronaut Sahda from UAE!

At a very young age around my 7^th year of standing on this planet, I dreamt of travelling through the stars. Right now I live in the United Arab Emirates, where 6 years ago when I was a third grader during a science class on the solar system, I happened upon a picture of the Milky Way and at that moment our teacher was explaining about living in space. After the class I went through what had been taught that day and I wanted to be a part of NASA’s space program, so I talked to people around me and they simply had a look which meant, you will never get to be one but my dad supported me. He bought me encyclopedias and many other books, one of my early favorite was DK’s space encyclopedia, which gave me the basic knowledge of space travel. On my 11^th birthday, I was surprised with a Celestron telescope at this time most of the people around me understood, that this was my dream because they noticed that, I kept working on it all day. 2014 was the year all my hard work started to pay off, During the test launch of Orion space craft the announcer said some words that were really emotional and inspiring he said something like, “Go delta. Go Orion. This is the dawn of Orion, the dawn of America’s new age of space travel” the following year I joined twitter as an aspiring astronaut and got to know many kids who had the same dream and I started to get noticed. The first person I met was Mackenzie as @JrAstronaut who supported me and inspired me. Then I met Astronaut Abby as a friend who always stood by my side, she is a reason where I am today. She continues to inspire me every day and a few months after that I got to know UAE’s gonna send a probe to Mars and that is when I knew UAE had a space agency, then I got a message from MR. Ibrahim Al Qasim, the deputy project manager of the Emirates Mars Mission and the project manager of the Nayif-1 cube sat mission, asking me to visit the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC). I was really excited. Then the next year they had a space event called Mission: Space at downtown Dubai. There I met the Mars Mission project manager MR. Omran Sharaf and a few of the other people who work at MBRSC, their words were inspiring, they gave me a push like never before. Then came up an opportunity to be a part of the newly launched non-profit, called The Mars Generation, by Astronaut Abby. I joined it as an ambassador and then I was given a chance at my school to talk about the need for space travel and it went well except my voice. Then I got recognized at my school as an astronaut in training and after the speech kids came up to me, even my seniors and they were really glad in hearing my story. I knew that every opportunity I get is because of someone was there to inspire me and give me a push. MR. Omran showed me that and then with the help of Astronaut Abby and our principal I formed the Scholars Astro Club, at our school where my dreams all began. All the credit of my achievements inside the school goes to my principal who is a true supporter and the one who provides me with many opportunities that is really amazing. Then I got to visit the Sharjah center for astronomy and space sciences at Sharjah, UAE, where I met an astronomer named Ahmed whose words inspired me too. He told “so I’m an astronomer and you are an astronaut. Hoping to see you up there”. I got a message from my friend Tanya who lives in India about starting an internet community of aspiring astronauts I agreed and she started it out with just five members including me, it is now running with over 50 members we share a very different social background. Another great moment was when I got to meet Astronaut Chris Hadfield who really helped me along my way to success, by providing me and the other aspiring astronaut in the world with videos of living in zero G, that really helped. I met him after his talk in Dubai about his journey. The most inspiring part was when he gave me his watch and the people around were like “wow”(I gave it back). He then signed a headshot for me and he wished me luck on my path to be an astronaut. At the same event I got to meet MR. Ibrahim along with MR. Saeed and MR. Saud (whom I already met before). They work for MBRSC.  I enjoyed talking to them. That was the most recent event in my journey. And I hope there is more to come! I believe in going to Mars and I wish to be among the first ones to get there. Remember that it is always you who have to choose your dream. There is always something that interests you and you have to work towards it, inspiring people along the way. Let us start as students and end up serving the human race.

E-mail: 2003sahda@gmail.com

Twitter: @2003sahda

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