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CLEVELAND — Ireland’s first astronaut, Dr. Norah Patten, visited the Great Lakes Science Center on Saturday for a special screening and meet-and-greet event.
Great Lakes Science Center partnered with Patten to host a show of the film “Ireland” in the Cleveland Clinic DOME Theater. Patten was also accompanied by the Irish Consul General, deputy consul and Honorary Consul of Ireland for Ohio.
Patten works with the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences as an aeronautical engineer and bioastronautics researcher and has experience in microgravity research, commercial spacesuit testing and emergency egress operations. Her upcoming IIAS-02 Mission will mark her first spaceflight and make her Ireland’s first astronaut.
The film “Ireland,” narrated by Liam Neeson, takes viewers on a journey across the Emerald Isle. The MacGillivray Freeman film follows Irish writer Manchán Magan, violinist Patricia Treacy and four Irish teens as they explore the country’s history and natural landmarks.
The screening featured locations including the Cliffs of Moher, Giant’s Causeway and the Skellig Islands, where scientists study Atlantic puffin populations.
After the screening, Patten signed autographs and meet guests. The visit reflects Patten’s deep connection to the United States and space exploration.
“Yeah, it was 100% the family ties. As that 11-year-old little girl, I was on as that 11-year-old little girl, I was on and my dad’s cousin took us to NASA and, you know, got us in to see the wind tunnels and meet some of the staff,” said Patten. “So literally that has, you know, as they say, shaped the course of my life and the trajectory of my career and has really just been that moment to spark an interest and lifelong love of exploration and learning about astronauts and how people travel to space and live off Earth. So yeah, it’s been a long journey since then, but how amazing and incredible it is now to finally have secured this opportunity to fly to space as a researcher.”
Patten is a STEM advocate and award-winning children’s book author. She hopes her journey inspires young people, including her own daughter.
“You know, it’s phenomenal. I’m a mom, I have a three-and-a-half-year-old daughter at home in Ireland and I just feel like for her generation growing up, I hope they’ll take a little bit of inspiration and hope from my own journey,” said Patten. “I like to say this was an impossible dream, but through many years, many decades actually of hard work and persistence and really never given up, I have somehow managed to pave that impossible path.”
Her 2019 children’s book “Shooting for the Stars” won A Post Children’s Book of the Year in the senior category. Patten was also a former global faculty member at the International Space University and currently works in Dublin.
Spectrum News 1 reporter Chloe Magill contributed to this report.
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Chloe Magill, Ruby Jackson
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