By Mike McBride
The news NI.
The image is from Caoimhe Rooney.
The image caption is.
The 29-year-old is from Northern Ireland.
A woman from Northern Ireland is hoping that math will be her ticket to the stars.
Dr Rooney works at the Ames Research Center in the United States.
The 29-year-old is hoping that her ability with numbers will help her become anastrologer.
If she succeeds, Dr Rooney will be the first person from Northern Ireland to go where no other person has gone before.
You don't have to have a PhD to know it's a long shot.
Dr Rooney, who has a PhD in applied mathematics from Oxford University, is involved in looking at how distant planets were formed, what they are made of and whether they could sustain life.
The former student of Sullivan Upper School in Holywood, County Down, works for the planetary system branch of Nasa looking at planets outside of our solar system.
She wants to prove that math is the language of our universe and debunk the myth that it is boring.
Dr Rooney said that Mrs Anderson, a very special teacher, was the one who revived her passion in the subject after she fell out of love with it.
She said that it wasn't until GSCE that she got a really amazing teacher who showed her she could do it and that it was a lot of fun.
Dr Rooney went on to study at Trinity College Dublin and then at Oxford for her PhD.
She set out to find a job that combined her two greatest passions.
She said there weren't many opportunities for a profession in space in Northern Ireland.
I started to think that I would just go all in.
They were looking for mathematical modellers.
I had to convince them that I could do what they wanted in the role, because it was right up my alley.
Dr Rooney is researching planets outside of our solar system.
The image is from Caoimhe Rooney.
The image caption is.
The Apollo 14 command module has Dr Rooney in it.
"These planets are light years away, so Nasa can't send a space probe to take pictures, they need to use powerful telescopes to detect light that is reflecting off of them," Dr Rooney said.
By looking at the breakdown of the light, we can see what the planet's atmosphere is like, its climate and if there are signs of life.
Dr Rooney said she is asked the question more than any other.
Could there be other forms of life in the universe? She said that the forms of life people are thinking of are more likely to be microbes orbacteria.
Dr Rooney applied for the European Space Agency's Astronaut Corps program, which selects and trains European astronauts for space missions.
She said that she didn't grow up out of a child's dream of being anastrologer.
I never thought it would be an option, but when the opportunity came up earlier this year, I had to throw my hat in the ring.
With over 22,000 applicants for just four positions, I am just focusing on how to possibly strengthen my application for next time.
Dr Rooney will be involved in the PoSSUM Science Astronaut programme in February and she is not pinning all her space hopes on just one scheme.
People are trained to conduct research in suborbital flight.
Dr Rooney said that he would still get an opportunity to wear a space suit in the coming months regardless of whether or not the European Space Agency makes him anastrologer.
The image is from Caoimhe Rooney.
The image caption is.
Dr Rooney and Dr Williams are both mathematicians.
Dr Rooney is using social media to inspire the next generation of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
She and fellow mathematician Dr Jessica Williams run a website.
The aim of the website is to post free videos, quizzes and informative lessons with the aim of seeing more young women join them in their respective fields.
"If you want to be a scientist, you can also do ballet, and if you like mathematics, you can also do ballet," Dr Rooney said.
There is space for everyone if you're interested in something that doesn't put you off by stereotypes.
The city of Belfast.
Astronomy.
It's Nasa.
Space exploration.
