Katherine made history as the first Australian trained as an astronaut under the Australian flag and now serves as Director of Space Technology at the Australian Space Agency. An extraordinary achievement, and a powerful reminder of where curiosity, courage and service to STEM can take you. An inspiration to us all.
Katherine’s story
When I first joined Queenwood as an excited Year 7, I loved that the school motto was the same as NASA’: Per Aspera ad Astra. My time at Queenwood helped impart in me the value of being an all-rounder across topics, and in building both hard and soft skills. These are very relevant to desired characteristics of an astronaut!
During my time at Queenwood, I never questioned that women could pursue whatever passion they chose. For me, the environment of an all-girls school meant that I didn’t feel pressured by any gender norms or perceive any barriers to working in traditionally male-dominated fields or teams.
In Year 8, we were asked to fill a form out for our preferred careers. It says a lot about the school that when I pitched being an astronaut, I wasn’t patronised but rather was set off on the path to learn what that would take. I translated my dreams into goals, then adapted them as I learned more along the way.
Queenwood would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Katherine Bennell-Pegg who was named South Australian of the Year and Australian of the Year 2026. “Per Aspera Ad Astra”.
