48-year-old mother is reaching for the stars

Being told she can’t or shouldn’t do something just makes Bettina Bathe more determined to persevere.

The 48- year-old mom of two recentlyapplied to become one of Canada’ s across the Canadian Space Agency’s recruitment campaign online.

Bathe has worked as a pilot off and on for about 20 years, flying commercially during that time.

Now that her children are older, her daughter is about to begin university and her son is 15, she has decided it’s time to get back into the workforce.

Unfortunately, her return to fulltime work has not been what she’d been hoping for. Instead of encouragement, she has been told to start at the bottom and work her way up, something she finds frustrating especially with her pilot training.

So when she came across the CSA campaign she thought what better way to utilize the training she already has than to become an astronaut.

“I thought well I’m just going to shoot for the stars here. I’m going to start at the top and work my way down,” said Bathe.

“I’m sure they’re not going to hire a 48-year-old woman, but it’s something that I needed to start with because again, why not?

“With the astronaut program being so diversified I thought well I might get a call back, I might not, but at least I am one of the few people that can say I had the criteria to apply.”

Bathe plans to enjoy the process, wherever it may take her, but acknowledges that it is a rigorous one and that she’s up against applicants who can speak multiple languages, have PhDs and other impressive educational backgrounds.

“As I figure, I’ve got that one criteria, I don’t have everything they’re asking for but it’s something,” said Bathe.

Bathe is also one of the finalists in the Miss Jetset Magazine 2016 cover search model contest and is the author of the children’s book series Violet the Pilot.

I thought well I might get a call back, I might not, but at least I am one of the few people that can say I had the criteria to apply.