Applied for a job at NASA at the age of 12 – now she's set to become Norway's first astronaut
As a child, she was in a wheelchair and dreamed of space. Now, Jannicke Mikkelsen's childhood dream is coming true, with the help of a billionaire.
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Norway is about to get its first astronaut.
In August, it was announced that the privately owned American company, SpaceX, would send four astronauts on a mission around the Earth, marking the first manned spaceflight to traverse both polar regions.
Among them will be Norwegian Jannicke Mikkelsen, 38, who will serve as mission commander.
Back to the classroom
Mikkelsen, a cinematographer specialising in 3D and new film technology, will film during the space mission, called Fram2.
“I’m aiming to create something new, but the most important thing will be capturing images of the Arctic and Antarctic,” she tells sciencenorway.no.
The launch, scheduled for late this year at the earliest, is fast approaching, and Mikkelsen is fully immersed in her training. Each day is planned down to the last minute. She now lives in the USA.
“My day starts at 5:55 AM with a run alongside friends, no matter the weather. No excuses,” she says.
Afterward, she studies for several hours, runs her company O2XR, and then continues her studies and attends meetings.
“What excites you most about the trip?”
“It has to be the launch,” she says.
The crew has already experienced the sensation of a centrifuge.
“You feel it – you have to breathe differently and tense your body to avoid losing consciousness. But I've heard that centrifuge training doesn't compare to the adrenaline rush of an actual rocket launch,” she says.
“Total lack of comfort”
The mission will last three to five days, and the crew will be quite cramped in the space capsule.
“We were sent on a survival trip in Alaska. There was a total lack of comfort the whole time. But we got used to each other's strengths and weaknesses. The survival course is a long-standing tradition for all astronaut groups. On that trip, my fellow astronauts became my brothers and sisters,” says Mikkelsen.
In space, the crew will be able to move around freely within the capsule.
“We’ve been told that in zero gravity, there’s actually a lot of space in the Dragon capsule. You can float and move upwards, too,” she says.
The 12-year-old who applied to NASA
Like many children, Jannicke Mikkelsen dreamed of becoming an astronaut. But for her, that dream never faded.
At 12 years old, she even called NASA to apply for a job involving 3D landscape mapping. Mikkelsen already had the skills and made it to the next round of the selection process.
“My mum had to call and tell them that I was only 12 years old,” she says.
At the time, Mikkelsen was in a wheelchair after a horseback riding accident. Exploring the world of space online became her refuge.
“I spent a lot of time bedridden after the accident, and the internet opened up a whole new world for me. I made friends with people who shared my passion for space, and it was a lifeline for me,” she says.
Cinematographer
After regaining her ability to walk, Mikkelsen became a speed skater and later pursued a degree in film, specialising in 3D.
She has worked with David Attenborough as a camera operator and made a VR music video for Brian May of Queen.
“Brian was the one who introduced me to the NASA community in Florida,” Mikkelsen said at an event at the Fram Museum in Oslo on September 12.
“At NASA, I realised how important video is. We need to communicate what we’re doing,” she says.
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The start of something new
Fram2 will be SpaceX's sixth private manned space mission and signals the start of a new era in space exploration, Mikkelsen believes.
“We belong to the group of astronauts contributing to space research through commercial space travel. We are among the first ten non-governmental astronauts employed by a space organisation,” she says.
Mikkelsen notes that things have changed. The Dragon capsule is autonomous, so you no longer need to be a fighter or test pilot to operate the spacecraft.
“But we still need to understand how Dragon communicates with us, and how we communicate with Dragon,” she says.
The mission is financed and led by billionaire Chun Wang, a cryptocurrency investor and entrepreneur from Malta.
He and Mikkelsen met when they were neighbours in Svalbard.
On Instagram: Want to go to space?
The two discussed how Mikkelsen's expertise could be useful in space, but it still came as a surprise when she received a message from him.
“Out of the blue, he sends me a message on Instagram asking if I want to join a space mission,” she says.
Mikkelsen was on a plane and managed to reply yes before the plane took off and the connection was lost.
“I landed in Tromsø and thought: ‘What just happened?’ It wasn't long before we had our first meeting with SpaceX,” she says.
Then came rigorous tests and meetings with psychologists and flight doctors to determine if she and the others were fit to participate in the mission.
The space mission will not be her first adventure. Mikkelsen has previously helped set a Guinness World Record for the fastest circumnavigation of the Earth via both poles with the mission One More Orbit.
Unthinkable just 15 years ago
“The fact that this is a purely commercial project is fascinating,” says Christian Hauglie-Hanssen, director general of the Norwegian Space Agency.
“It’s a coincidence of good circumstances that have brought these people together for a trip into space. 15 years ago, this would have been completely unimaginable,” he says.
It is different from the recruitment programme in ESA, where there are 20,000 applicants and very tough screening processes, says Hauglie-Hanssen.
He adds that the polar orbit is one of the mission’s most spectacular features.
“It’s never been done before,” he says.
Northern lights and health research
The mission will contribute to research on unique northern lights phenomena.
Katie Herlingshaw at the University Centre in Svalbard will conduct a project in collaboration with Fram2, gathering images of the northern lights taken by the public at the same time the spacecraft flies overhead.
Other research topics will focus on the physiological and psychological effects of space travel.
Mikkelsen explains that the mission will demonstrate the safety of human space travel in a polar orbit, which is subject to high levels of radiation.
“Building step by step”
Norway is already involved in space exploration. The International Space Station hosts experiments and technology developed by Norwegian institutions, and Norway has contributed vital instruments for satellites, says Christian Hauglie-Hanssen. These projects often take years to develop and cost a lot of money.
“With Fram2, they’re addressing more immediate issues, as I see it. They’re combining research on physiology and radiation exposure, and there will be a focus on female physiology, which hasn’t been specifically studied before,” he says.
What impact will Fram2 have? Hauglie-Hanssen notes that short missions have limited research potential.
“But it’s a significant step forward in terms of what can be done commercially. It’s all about building step by step, exploring what potential short missions can offer,” he says.
Hauglie-Hanssen is pleased that a woman is set to become Norway's first astronaut, and the Norwegian Space Agency will be looking into whether this milestone boosts recruitment and interest in the space industry.
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Translated by Alette Bjordal Gjellesvik
Read the Norwegian version of this article on forskning.no
