At AstraFemina, we believe that meaningful connections can begin with a single question.
When student journalist Veronica reached out to us with an interest in interviewing one of our members. We were delighted to help make that connection possible. Her curiosity, preparation, and initiative reflect exactly the kind of confidence we hope to encourage in girls and young women exploring STEM, space, and leadership.
With Veronica’s permission, we are proud to share her interview with Lt. Gen. Helms, originally featured in The Bruins’ Journal. In this thoughtful student-led piece, Veronica offers readers a closer look at Lt. Gen. Helms’ path through the U.S. Air Force, NASA, and space exploration while reminding us why access to real stories and real role models matters.
As we all know, the Artemis II mission recently sent four astronauts further away from the Earth than anyone has been before and brought them home safely! Because of this, I wanted to interview an actual astronaut to learn more about what it is like to serve in the field of space exploration.
To find an astronaut to interview, I connected with an organization called AstraFemina, which is focused on exposing more girls to the STEM workforce. They connected me with former astronaut, Lieutenant General Susan Helms, who kindly agreed to let me interview her! I was ecstatic, and so, on Saturday, May 23rd, I met Helms via. Zoom, for a brief, informative interview.
Prior to becoming an astronaut, Helms served in the Air Force for 10 years. Because her father was an Air Force pilot, she knew from a young age that she wanted to serve; in fact, her ambition began in middle school! She shared that the military only began accepting women when she graduated from high school. This was ideal for her, as it meant that she was able to do what she dreamed of: becoming a flight test engineer, where she got to fly and examine different planes to check if they were safe.
Soon after she started flying planes as a part of her job, she wanted more. She remembers asking herself, "How can I fly higher and faster than these fighter jets that I get to fly in?". Turns out, the answer lie in space. Driven by her own personal desire and the suggestion of an astronaut friend, she decided to apply to the astronaut program. The program was, as you may have guessed, extremely selective, but Helms made the cut. She was one of only 24 other applicants chosen to become an astronaut out of the approximately 10,000 who applied!
For Helms, living aboard the International Space Station (ISS) was her most memorable experience as an astronaut. "It can make you feel kind of insignificant as a person,", she recalled, "but then you can look down on planet Earth and see evidence of humanity, and it makes you feel kind of special that there is this place in the universe where humanity lives and has put their footprint on [ ... ] and you're a part of it."
Not only did Helms serve aboard the ISS, she was also the first woman to do so! While she didn't gain a celebrity status from this like Artemis 11 Astronaut Christina Koch, Helms said that she hoped that she will inspire people, but for a slightly unexpected reason. "Something I wanted to do was to be an astronaut." she said, "It was something I decided to try for [and] it was something I was able to achieve. And I think all of it tied back to [that] I really worked hard and I tried to do well at everything I did and that's something that I feel like is an inspirational message, because I'm not superhuman[ ... ], we're all just human.". She thinks that this is what people should be inspired by, not just that she was the first person to do something, but because she set a goal for herself and she achieved it.
To close off the interview, I decided to ask Helms a question that some of the other 7th graders were curious about: What was the best thing she ate in space? The space station was shared by the U.S. and Russia at the time, so Helms remembered getting to try Russian food. "When I was up there, the Russians, had this can of chicken and rice," said Helms, "and it was REALLY, REALLY, good!". She says that she thinks that the Russian food tasted better because it was different from the other food they had access to on the station, which made it even more special.
I truly enjoyed getting to talk to Helms, and it really enlightened me as to what it is like to be an astronaut. If this is career you think that you would be interested in, Helms recommends checking out Nasa.gov's digital Astronaut Fact Book, which provides information on different astronauts and the paths they took to pursue that career.
