Email Us
Nicholas Patrick, Britain's newest astronaut, was amongst the crew of the space shuttle that took off this month. Patrick, whose mother was from the Isle of Skye in Scotland, was raised in Yorkshire, and educated at Harrow and Cambridge. He had to become an American citizen to become part of the NASA space program, and has been training since 1998.
To honor his Scottish ancestry, and in recognition of his support of the Careers Scotland Space School, Patrick will be carrying a Scottish flag into space, and then returning it to the Scottish parliament upon his return to earth.
Commenting on Britain's participation in space exploration, Patrick said, "Britain has such a wonderful history as an exploring nation, I would hate to see it go forward without participating in the space exploration that's going on these days. There are opportunities for a very few Britons to fly into space and I'd like to see those opportunities open in a more egalitarian way. That can only be done with the UK's fuller participation in a space agency that has an astronaut corps."
"Britain is a junior partner in the European Space Agency and its annual contribution, £129m in 2004-5, is too low for a place in the organisation's human spaceflight programme, which the government considers of "disproportionately low scientific value".
To read more about this mission, and Patrick's part in it, go to:
The Guardian
Scottish parliament
New Scientist
©1999-2006 DBE in Louisiana, Inc. All rights reserved.
Questions/Comments? Contact the Webmaster Betty Calzada.