Roberta Bondar

Roberta Bondar

Roberta Bondar (pronunciation rhymes with “ponder”) was born in Sault Ste. Marie on December 4, 1945. Roberta’s mom was a teacher and her father worked for the city. She had an older sister named Barbara. Roberta's family all loved outdoor activities like skiing, skating and canoing, to name a few. She loved science, books and sports, but especially space. She knew early in her life that she wanted to be a doctor, a scientist and an astronaut. Roberta's dad helped her along by building a laboratory in the basement of their family house. She did experiments, used her microscope and watched the Northern Lights. Her aunt even sent her news from Florida about the space program. In High School Roberta was in Girl Guides and taught sports at the local YMCA where she was named “female athlete of the year.”

Roberta is an excellent example of someone who set some personal goals early in her life, had the support of family and friends, and set out to do the hard work necessary to achieve her goals. Plus, these weren't just everyday goals; she wanted to be an astronaut, a doctor and a scientist. She achieved this through many years of university where she earned 5 degrees: B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D., M.D. and F.R.C.P. I think this was a lot of work but it allowed her to become one of only 448 people to have been able to go up in space.

Roberta's life is very interesting because she became Canada's first woman astronaut and the world's first neurologist in space. Right now she has retired from space travel but she goes out to schools and talks about her experiences and has written "Touching the Earth," about those experiences. She also has studied photography and has published 2 books called "Passionate Vision" and "Landscape of Dreams." She is working on 2 more photography books.

Roberta Bondar Web (I made it.)

Roberta Bondar has received over 19 special honors and awards including Officer of the Order of Canada, Order of Ontario, Roberta Bondar Astronaut Stamp and the NASA Space Medal.I counted eighteen organizations who have given her honorary appointments, including the Young Scientists of Canada, the World Congress of Neurology in (Vancouver) and Canadian Aviation Historical Society and Honorary Colonel, 22 Wing, Canadian Armed Forces. In addition, she has received 24 honorary doctorates from Canadian and American universities. Numerous honors in the name of Roberta Bondar have been created which include Roberta Bondar Earth and Space Center, Seneca College, Toronto; Girl Guides of Canada Scholarship; USS Bondar and the Roberta Bondar Public School, Ottawa.

The reason I chose this amazing person to research is I thought it would be interesting to learn a little more about what it takes to become a space traveler. I am pretty interested in the solar system. While researching this project I have certainly learned a lot more about Roberta Bondar and the commitment it would take to achieve your life goals. I sure hope all the people who read this learn many things and are inspired by Roberta's life story (so far!).