Norah Patten
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Norah Patten is an Irish aeronautical engineer and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) advocate[1] from Ballina, County Mayo. Patten was selected to potentially become the first Irish person in space as part of a mission on board Virgin Galactic's second generation of spacecraft. This mission, known as Delta, is proposed to take place in 2026/2027.[2]
Patten was born in Ballina, County Mayo. She attended St. Mary's Secondary School, and has been fascinated by space since visiting NASA's Glenn Research Centre in Cleveland, Ohio when she was 11 years old.[3] She designed rockets for her junior certificate art project. She visited NASA on several occasions as a teenager and opted to study aeronautical engineering at the University of Limerick.[4] Patten completed a work placement at Boeing during her undergraduate degree programme and continued her education at the University of Limerick, where she obtained a doctorate in aerodynamics in 2011. She completed a work placement in Bell Labs during this time.
Patten participated European Space Agency supported Alpbach Summer School in 2008 and graduated from the International Space University Space Studies Programme in 2010.