As a PhD-level particle physicist and champion cheerleader, Dr Jaclyn Bell (BSc Hons Mathematics 2010, MA Mathematical Sciences 2011, PhD 2016) is not used to feeling like the most average person in the room. But the 28-year-old Liverpool graduate, who recently appeared on BBC2’s Astronauts: Do you have what it takes?, admits she was initially intimidated by the other high-flying candidates hand-picked for the programme by the former Commander of the International Space Station, Chris Hadfield.
They included RAF pilots, athletes, explorers and ballerinas – all at the top of their fields. “I thought I was at the bottom of the pile the whole time,” says Jaclyn. “I had so much respect for them and felt myself sinking into the floor and wondering if I deserved to be one of the 12, but I did start to see my own qualities as it progressed and it definitely helped my confidence.”
The show put the candidates through the selection process for astronaut training and promised the winner the ultimate reference from Chris Hadfield for when space agencies are next recruiting. Jaclyn says it was an unmissable opportunity to fulfil a life-long ambition to go into space.
Viewers saw Jaclyn exit the programme after a series of tasks exposed that she wasn’t a strong swimmer. However, this knockback has only made her more determined to become an astronaut. “I was dreading seeing the episode where I was asked to leave, I was so stressed that people would say, ‘she’s got a PhD but she can’t swim, what’s that about?’ But the whole experience was amazing and I got so much positive feedback and support.
“It’s still my dream to become an astronaut. The European Space Agency will be recruiting in a few years and I’ve already got a timeline of things I need to do before then. I would absolutely love to be the first Scouser in space and am even more passionate about it since taking part in the show.”
Along with improving her swimming, she plans to learn to fly, SCUBA dive and speak Russian in the spare time she can fit around a new job working as a Space and Physics Project Manager at the UK Association for Science and Discovery Centres.
This new role follows a stint working for the British Science Association and both jobs appealed to Jaclyn’s passion for education, and especially for introducing young people to science. Throughout her late teens and her University career she was always involved in youth and community projects.
“When I was a kid I was told that being an astronaut was an unrealistic goal, and so had my heart set on becoming a teacher,” she says. “I was always such a nerd… I still am. I would play school with my little brother but I never thought of going to university. I never knew much about it because no one in my family had been. My parents weren’t keen on me getting into debt so I said I would live at home and work hard to make sure I didn’t.
“At University, meeting people from all over the world and from cultures I’d never been exposed to before made me think. I only knew home, school and becoming a teacher – the jobs I saw everyday. University opened up so many different opportunities to me. My little tiny world became a massive world.”
But Jaclyn’s proudest achievement to date was discovering that the 12 Astronauts candidates had been personally selected by Chris Hadfield. “I thought it would be the BBC selecting candidates and I was trying to figure out which character role I slotted into – probably the emotional ginger Scouser! But then I found out Chris had looked through all the applications and whittled them down and chose us. I’d found it difficult getting a graduate job straight after leaving uni, so to apply for something so prestigious and get it was a real confidence boost.”
Jaclyn says she would never have made the cut without her PhD and other qualities developed during her time as a student. She credits her maths background with giving her the problem solving skills which shone through in some of the tasks and her cheerleading training for the trust and self discipline needed to work as part of a team.