Norah PATTEN

Bio

Dr. Norah Patten is an aeronautical engineer and bioastronautics researcher with the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS). In 2024, Norah’s research spaceflight (IIAS-02) with Virgin Galactic was announced and it will make her the first Irish astronaut. Norah’s extensive research experience includes multiple microgravity research campaigns, commercial spacesuit testing and evaluation, and emergency egress operations. She was the PI of an experiment investigating the aerosolization of water droplets in microgravity, and tested a novel 3D bioprinter investigating solutions for skin grafts in weightlessness. Norah is an award-winning author and STEM advocate and is passionate about inspiring the next generation. In 2019, Norah released her children's book called ‘Shooting for the Stars' and it won the An Post Children's Book of the Year, Senior. She was awarded the IIAS Educator Award in 2018, was a recipient of the Emerging Space Leaders Grant and a Next Generation Plenary panelist at the International Astronautical Congress in 2015. Through a partnership with NanoRacks and the Irish Composites Centre, Norah created and managed ‘The Only Way is Up’ project which launched Ireland's first student experiment to the International Space Station in 2014, in which she was also the co-PI. Norah participated in the International Space University Space Studies Program in 2010, holds a PhD in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Limerick, participated in the Enterprise Ireland New Frontiers Program, and has industrial experience from The Boeing Company and Bell Labs Alcatel Lucent. Norah is a former global faculty member at the International Space University (ISU), and currently works as the Commercial Manager at Réaltra in Dublin, Ireland.