Being an astronaut has been David Corporal’s guiding north star goal since he was a teenager.
Forever curious about the way the world works, the Eastern Arrente man’s dream crystallised when he was in high school, watching videos of then commander of the International Space Station Chris Hatfield.
“I thought hey, I’m good at maths, I’m good at physics, why not try and become an astronaut, and that’s been my guiding north star since then,” he told AAP.
And if I don’t become an astronaut, which is a lofty goal, I’m still aiming to be an engineer in the space industry.
Mr Corporal is one of five Indigenous university students who will travel to the US for a 10-week internship at NASA’s Jet propulsion laboratory in California.
“This is a dream that’s been a decade in the making,” Mr Corporal, who is studying a Masters of Engineering at Queensland University of Technology, said.
“I am over the moon – no pun intended.”
He will be joined by Gamilaroi man Carl Goodwin from Monash University, Griffith University’s Jordan McGrath a Lunga Kija man; Sydney University’s Renee Wootten, a Tharawal woman, and Lucy Barr, a palawa woman from the University of Tasmania.
The program is run through Monash University’s National Indigenous Space Academy, where the students are spending the week for a ‘space boot camp’ before heading to the United States on Thursday.
The space boot camp program covers aerodynamics, robotics, rovers, rockets, astrophysics, planetary science, engineering, computer and earth sciences.
Carl Goodwin, a Masters of Artificial Intelligence student at Monash University, said he’s excited for the mentoring opportunities and to represent First Nations people in the space sector.
“Apart from working with world-leading space scientists this is also a great opportunity for me to interact and work with other like-minded Indigenous people,” he said.
Mr Corporal says he’s worked hard to get to this point but could not have done it without the support of his family, friends and teachers.
“I’m incredibly grateful for everyone that has helped me get here, no person stands alone,” he said.
“I’m able to go to NASA because of the teachers I had in school, the people who supported me in university, family, friends and family friends, who helped me out in rough patches.
“For all the effort I have put in I could not be here without their love and support that they’ve put into me.”
