Western Australian Indigenous Student Wins Spot in NASA Space Academy

Alaxandrea O’Brien, a proud Dulgubarra-Mamu and Jirrbal woman, has become the inaugural Western Australian university student selected for Monash University’s National Indigenous Space Academy (NISA). The program sends eight First Nations tertiary students to the United States and United Kingdom for a ten-week research placement at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where they will contribute to active space missions such as ocean-exploration vehicle design and International Space Station microbial studies.

O’Brien’s journey took her from the night skies of the Kimberley to a degree in environmental engineering at the University of Western Australia, and she previously visited the Kennedy Space Center as a teenager. Prior to departure, the scholars completed an intensive Space Boot Camp covering aerodynamics, robotics, planetary science and more. Professor Chris Lawrence highlighted the transformative potential of NISA for Indigenous STEM talent, noting its role in advancing space exploration and the search for life beyond Earth. During her stint, O’Brien aims to apply satellite data to water-resource challenges faced by remote Australian communities.