Expert Panel - Taking You Higher

Shannon McConnell

Hailing from Pasadena, California, Shannon is a reformed Rocket Scientist, world traveller and STEM Program consultant. She has been introducing students to the excitement of space exploration since 1998, leading the Galileo Outreach Team, the Cassini Formal Education Team, and NASA’s Deep Space Network Education and Public Outreach Office.

But before her work in outreach and education, Shannon worked mission planning and design for the Cassini Spacecraft, sequence design and execution for the Galileo Mission, and data analysis for the Magellan Mission. Shannon also spent two years working payload operations for two Space Shuttle Flights managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

Shannon has penned numerous technical articles for NASA along with current event opinion pieces, STEM education articles and even a full-length novel.

Dr Alice Gorman

Dr Alice Gorman is an internationally recognised leader in the field of space archaeology. Her research focuses on the archaeology and heritage of space exploration, including space junk, planetary landing sites, off-earth mining, space habitats, rocket launch pads and antennas.

She is an Associate Professor at Flinders University in Adelaide and a heritage consultant with over 25 years’ experience working with Indigenous communities in Australia. In collaboration with NASA and Chapman University, she is conducting the first archaeological study of the International Space Station.

Alice is a mentor in the UN Office of Outer Space Affairs Space4Women Mentor Network.

Her book Dr Space Junk vs the Universe: Archaeology and the Future (MIT Press, 2019) won the NIB Literary Award People’s Choice for Non-Fiction and the John Mulvaney Book Award. She tweets as @drspacejunk and blogs at Space Age Archaeology.

Sally Tindall

Sally started flying when she was 14 because her brothers raced cars and flying was the only thing she could think of that was faster! She wanted to fly because, back then, to go to space you needed to be a pilot. These days, mission specialists are geologists, biologists, engineers and botanists.

Sally did everything these could to meet the qualifications for the shuttle program, but when that program was grounded, she thought she had lost her chance.

Now with SpaceX, Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, Virgin Orbit, NASA, EASA and the Chinese programs, it is a really great time to be getting involved in space.

Sally is currently shortlisted with AdvancingX to go to space in 2023. Every year, the shortlisted candidates get together to train and be tested against other candidates.

Sally is keeping her fingers crossed to become one of Australia’s first female astronauts.

Syllabus Links

STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics

Critical and Creative Thinking

Work & Enterprise