Out Of This World

British scientist Jackie Bell on how fulfilling a childhood dream by training as an astronaut for a BBC2 reality show changed her life

- Caren Clark

As a kid, I always loved space, but when I announced at school that I wanted to be an astronaut, everyone laughed,’ scientist Jackie Bell tells TV Times.

‘They told me that only the Americans get to go into space and that I wasn’t good enough to do it. So my idea died.’

Jackie, now 28 and a theoretical particle physicist, didn’t totally give up on her dream, so when she saw that BBC2 was recruiting for an exciting reality show, Astronauts: Do You Have What It Takes?, she decided to apply. Chosen from thousands of applicants, Jackie will join 11 others, who all undergo intense training in the six-part series, using standards set by world space agencies.