Australian astronaut charts her path to space and inspiration

CANBERRA — Starting in childhood, Katherine Bennell-Pegg became enamored with the stars that illuminated the night skies of her Australian hometown.

“I was a kid that was absolutely in love with space,” said Bennell-Pegg, who spent her childhood in Sydney. “When my mum told me that some of those stars were really far away, but no one had ever seen them up close with their own eyes, as a young kid, I was like, ‘Wow, that sounds like a great adventure.'”