Roberta Bondar

Little did Roberta Bondar’s parents know when they watched her

playing astronaut as a little girl that she would be Canada’s first

woman in space, or that she would specialize in studying the effects of

space flights on people’s brains.

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Can curiosity take you into outer space? Just ask Roberta Bondar.
Growing up in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Roberta loved learning how the world worked.
Her favorite gifts were chemistry sets, and her favorite game was playing astronaut and
exploring new worlds in her imagination. She wanted to know about everything, from
plants to animals, art to science, sports to fantasy. So, Roberta kept studying and learning
new things.
She took degrees in zoology and agriculture at university, but then got into medicine and
ended up becoming a doctor of neurobiology, studying how our brains work. As she
earned her medical degree, Roberta Bondar became interested in yet another new field -
space medicine!
When Canada announced it was starting a space program and looking for potential
astronauts, guess who had her application in the mail the next day? There were four
thousand top-notch applicants, but Dr. Bondar had the right stuff - brains, fitness, and a
love of exploration. She was one of just six people chosen to take astronaut training.
In 1992, Dr. Bondar blasted off aboard the U.S. Space Shuttle Discovery, becoming
Canada’s first woman astronaut. She was also the first neurologist to go into space.