PLANETARY SCIENTIST
Sheila Kanani
Hi, my name's Sheila and I'm a PhD student at University College London (UCL). When I was younger, I saw the movie Apollo 13 and saw the view of Earth from space. From that moment on, I knew that I wanted to be involved in space in some way. I was also inspired by British-born NASA astronaut Michael Foale and wanted to become an astronaut like him, (something I secretly still hope to do!) and I knew I would need Science and Maths to get there.
The team I work with at university designed an instrument that was launched with a NASA satellite in 2004, which monitors the environment around Saturn. My job involves analysing the instrument's data and working with other planetary science teams around the world. I also work with Space School and I'm really proud of the work I do there to inspire future generations of space enthusiasts.
Discover more about science in space and other careers in space .
Did you know?- You could earn up to £60,000 as a Planetary Scientist or up to £74,000 as an astronaut.
- Some aspiring space experts attend space camps and programmes all over the world from Alabama to Russia.
- You could be involved in making the next great space discovery like life on Mars.
- In addition to the team you work with, you also get to meet and work with experts from other countries.
- Planetary Scientists can have flexible working hours and don't even need to wear lab coats.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:Hi there, my name's Sheila, and I'm a space scientist.
I'm part of a team who sent a spacecraft all the way to Saturn, a billion kilometres away from Earth, and we're trying to find out why the rings are there, why the moons are there, and it's an incredibly exciting system.
But I also teach and mentor at a summer camp called Space School UK.
This is where teenagers come to learn about the science of space. It's a fantastic place where they can learn skills that they just wouldn't get in the classroom.
Physics is directly relevant to my research subject, because I'm looking in to how a planet interacts with its moons and its rings, so you always need to know what the gravity's doing of the system, and without that we couldn't really work out the physics.
Working in the science industry you can really work with children, just inspiring the next generation, so that's something I really love about Space School.
I've been really lucky to travel loads with my career path. I've been to Russia where we saw where cosmonauts trained, which was incredible. I've also managed to go to Australia, working in the Outback, and I'm hoping to go to a NASA facility later on this year as well.
There's a huge amount of career progression within my work. I could go on in to industry, I could continue in research, maybe become a lecturer or a teacher. There's so many things you can do with physics.
I think if you can sort of give a lecture to a 100 kids and just inspire one person to go in to a science subject then that's a really proud moment.
Interested in becoming a Planetary Scientist? Find out more about it here, check out our Useful Links section or talk to a careers advisor at school.