A grounded candidate with heavenly ambition

UBC zoologist and rugby player bids to join Canada’s astronauts and, perhaps, fly into space

By Pete McMartin, Vancouver Sun March 20, 2009

Of all her attributes and accomplishments we talked about—the scholarships and degrees, her doctoral work at UBC, her travel—the most affecting was the fact that Allyson Hindle, all of 30 years old and Canada’s only female candidate hoping to become an astronaut, plays rugby.

There’s something reassuring about a stellar resume and heavenly ambition being grounded in the muck of a rugby field.

“I started playing in high school,” Hindle said. “I’d say it’s my primary adult sport now, and I played most recently at Texas A & M.”

It was in Texas she completed her PhD in wildlife and fisheries science, to complement her bachelor’s and master’s of science degrees in zoology from the University of Manitoba. Her next trip to Texas could take her into space.

Of 5,351 applicants, Hindle is one of 16 finalists announced earlier this week in the Canadian Space Agency’s national astronaut recruitment campaign. She is the only female among them. Of those 16 finalists, two will be selected in May, and those two will then report to Houston in August for further training. From there, the future could hold a flight on the space shuttle.

“Truly, at this point, being involved in a launch is so far away it’s hard to think of it being a reality.”

In the history of the Canadian space program, only two astronauts have been women. Hindle was asked if she thought the gender odds helped or hindered her in this case.

“To be very honest, I’d have to say it’s neither. In the eye of the selection committee, it has no bearing. The CAS wants candidates who have shown an aptitude for problem-solving, for teamwork, for being good in crisis situations . . . . They’re looking for people with life experiences.”

That, she has. There is her education, most of it paid through scholarships. In her short life, she has also managed to travel to all seven continents, including Antarctica, where she did research on Weddell seals. Hindle now works as a post-doctoral fellow at UBC’s Marine Mammal Research Unit, where she is studying the diving habits of the Steller sea lion and its population decline in the Pacific. Her research focuses on the physiology of wild species that have adapted to extreme environments.

“I’ve always been interested in the idea of animals who seem particularly well-adapted to extreme environments, And I thought that was something I might be able to bring to the space program, there being no more extreme environment than space.”

She first learned of the recruitment campaign in May of last year. She was in her car on the way to work when she heard a story about it on the radio.

“I heard the announcement and I thought, ‘I think I can really do that.’

“For me, going into space was something I had thought about when I was young, and in that, I don’t think I’m unique. But in Canada, the opportunities for it are so infrequent, becoming an astronaut is not something you seriously pursue. So like the other candidates, I followed my interests in my own field and felt that, when the opportunity did come along, it was something I might have a chance to take part in.”

She has endured an unending series of tests to measure her physical and mental readiness. During our interview, she was wearing a halter monitor: it would record her heart rate while she slept. She has had MRIs, X-rays, echocardiograms and blood work. She has had lung-capacity tests. She has undergone exercise stress testing. With the rest of the finalists, she was flown to the Canadian Forces Naval Engineering School in Halifax and Survival Systems Training Ltd. in Dartmouth, N.S., and there they got to do things such as suppress real fires, stop a room from flooding and escape from a helicopter sinking underwater.

“I feel like that was an undiscovered skill for me,” Hindle said of the underwater escape. “I held my own.”

Is there a sense of competition between the candidates, of being voted off the island?

“Of course, it’s a bit of a joke that this would make a good reality show. But the truth of it is, we’ve all become fast friends. And that’s part of the game, too . . . . You have nothing to gain by being competitive or hostile with the other candidates. It wouldn’t serve you well in space.”

She is asked about the fear of going into space, of the danger of launches and re-entries that have sometimes gone fatally wrong.

“Yes, there is a risk, but it’s something that comes with the territory, and by this time we’ve all made peace with that.”

And if she isn’t selected?

She has her research to come back to, she said, and she is engaged to be married.