When you picture astronaut training, chances are you’re imagining extremely serious, Hans Zimmer soundtracked scenes from the likes of "Interstellar," "Gravity," or "Ad Astra."
Chances are you’re probably not picturing a Ballina woman perfecting her zero-gravity approach; however, Dr. Norah Patten, engineer and Ireland’s very own spacebound trailblazer, is the REAL face of space exploration in 2025.
As she edges closer to becoming the first Irish person in space, Norah’s training regimen is, as you’d expect, rigorous, technical, and full of acronyms. But it also comes with a healthy dose of chaos and very human moments.
She sat down with Extra.ie this week to lift the visor on what really goes on behind the scenes of astronaut prep.
"I think with social media, it’s been great having that as a platform to share some of the some of the preparation we do, and some of the programs that we’ve we’ve worked on," she began.
"I think people like to hear about the kind of quirky things… for example, the microgravity flights are often named 'the vomit comet' because people get motion sick on them.
"Because you’re flying in this trajectory on the aircraft where it’s like you’re flying up and down, and you’re getting this 20 seconds of weightlessness, and you then transition into like a 2g pull, so everything becomes heavy, and often in those transitions, people can get motion sick and and so people often like to hear, did you get sick? You know, and what do you eat in advance?"
Norah sees her pre-flight meal as an essential part of the launch day routine, admitting she has it down to a "fine art" by now.
"I know a chicken wrap, a plain chicken wrap, maybe two and a half hours before I fly and I’m perfect. I haven’t gotten sick. If you don’t eat, you’re more likely to get sick. So there’s all these combinations."
Another lesser-known but entirely practical part of space preparation is the use of adult nappies—yes, even astronauts have to think about bathroom breaks when suited up, with Norah spilling the beans on the less glamorous side of space exploration.
"It’s a maximum absorbency garment, it’s a mag, and you actually wear those on the space flight. Astronauts wear them on the way to the space station. It’s just, if you did have to go to the toilet, there’s no toilets on the spacecraft. So what do you do? You wear a mag on your space flight. I think it’s those interesting little facts that people like to get a sense of that, the human side."
Dr. Nora Patten.
Norah’s journey has also quietly transformed her into a role model for a new generation of space enthusiasts, especially in Ireland.
Her presence in the space world shows young people, particularly girls and those from underrepresented communities, that space isn’t just for a select few. It’s a career path that can start with stargazing in Mayo and lead all the way to orbit.
"It’s sometimes hard to put into words, because it’s something I don’t for one second take for granted," she remarked of her newfound fame.
"Sometimes I get recognized out, you know, with little kids coming up, and they’re like, 'oh, there’s Nora!' And it’s really, really special to see.
"I just want to be able to use the flight as a means of engaging with as many, not just kids, adults too, in Ireland, just to share what we’re doing, inspire them and If there was some big dream or ambition they had, to find possible routes to make it happen."
Norah has been selected for a mission on board Virgin Galactic’s second generation of spacecraft that will hopefully launch in 2026
Aer Lingus has since partnered with Dr. Patten ahead of her historic space mission, with the Irish airline proudly flying Norah as she crosses the Atlantic while undertaking this vital space research.
* This article was originally published on Extra.ie.
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