Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
I was looking for Blame Game tickets but ended up in astronaut contest
Ulster woman Hannah in final six of race for space
WHEN Hannah Shields tried to find tickets for a TV comedy show she never dreamed it would take her to the ends of the earth.
But with the click of a button the 53-year-old had applied to become an astronaut.
And yesterday we discovered she was one of 8,500 people who nominated themselves for a new BBC2 competition.
Astronauts: Do You Have What It Takes? started last night with candidates battling it out for a chance to leave Earth.
Now down to the final six, Hannah, a dentist from Derry, is striving to show she has what it takes to be sent into space.
She said: “I was on the BBC Northern Ireland website looking for tickets for The Blame Game when an ad for this competition caught my attention.
“I was curious and clicked on it and just applied so it was a lucky coincidence really.
“I never did get tickets for The Blame Game but I’m so happy I got this chance.
“The deadline for the application was the following day so I had to get my act together fast.”
The show will follow the candidates as they are put through astronaut training in facilities around the world, including a secret premises in Sweden, the German Space Centre and the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
But the fight for a place in the final is tough and the evictions are surprising.
Viewers watch as the competitors take part in flotation exercises which re-create space conditions.
Another test involves repeating a series of numbers backwards while stepping onto and off a bench. This is intended to measure their mental capacity while deprived of oxygen.
But it was squeezing herself into a small pod that Hannah found most challenging.
The exercise lets trainers spot anyone with even a hint of claustrophobia.
She said: “I found that part really very difficult.
“I was once caught in an avalanche and since then have had issues with feeling that I can’t escape from somewhere.
“It was all so intense. We were rigged up to monitors – my heart rate must have been off the scale.”
Ten years ago Hannah became the first woman from Northern Ireland to climb Everest.
She also represents Ireland in the triathlon, the duathlon and in ultra-distance running, which is any race longer than a 26-mile marathon.
But the race to space is her biggest challenge yet. Astronauts: Do You Have What It Takes? is on BBC2 on Sundays at 9pm.
DERRY YESTERDAY