Previously published in Examiner
Part 42 of the female astronaut series
Women astronauts are working, have worked and retired and have lost their lives in the journey into space. We serve our countries with honor and dignitary. This final section of the series will deal with the two female astronauts from Canada, one great astronaut from the Province of Ontario, the other home grown astronaut from Montreal.
Roberta Bondar first Canadian female astronaut, first neurologist in space and Head of NASA space medicine
Roberta Bondsr was born on Dec 4, 1945 in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario.
Education
Bonder obtained her B.Sc in zoology and agriculture from the University of Guelph, followed by an M.Sc in experimental pathology from the University of Western Ontario, and her PhD from the University of Ontario in neuroscience. Bonder then went on to get her MD from McMaster University.
Roberta Bondar is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada
Bondar went to Boston to complete her sub-specialization neurology training in neuro-ophthalmology at Tufts University School of Medicine
Roberta Bondar also has experience in other areas. She is trained for National Disasters and she is also a celebrated landscape photographer. She received her training in professional nature photography from Brooks Institute of Photograpy in Santa Barbara, California.
NASA career
Robert Bondar became a prime Payload Specialist for the first International Microgravity Laboratory Mission (IML-1) on the NASASpace Shuttle Discovery during Mission STS-42, January 22-30, 1992, performing various experiments in the Spacelab.
Roberta Bondar has lead an international team of specialists who are currently examining the data returned from space in the efforts to understand how the human body reacts to exposure in space.
Consulting and media coverage
Roberta Bondar has been a consultant for various organizations such as Pfizer, Oracle and the FBI She has appeared on various radio and TV channels in Canada and the US such as, CBC, PBS, BBC and CNN.
Bondar appeared in “Destiny in Space”, the movie and she represented Disney at the opening of the new mission space ride.
Bondar has co-anchored the space shuttle launches at Cape Canaveral for the Discovery channel.
Roberta Bondar is celebrated in her home town of Sault Ste Marie being inducted into the Sault Ste Marie walk of fame. The tent building and Ontario Government building bears her name. She has an elementary school named after her In Ottawa as well.
Source
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberta_Bondar
