A seven-year-old 'astronaut in training' - known as Astro Liz - is to be the first ever child to send something to the moon after impressing the world’s leading space pioneers.
Elizabeth Norman is obsessed with space and staged the launch of a massive homemade Vulcan Centaur rocket from her garden earlier this year. Elizabeth’s passion for space was ignited after watching coverage of NASA’s Perseverance Rover being sent to Mars in July 2020.
Now, her enthusiasm for all things lunar has captured the attention of US experts currently prepping the real Vulcan Centaur for the first moon landing in nearly 50 years.
United Launch Alliance (ULA) has a miniscule space left on an upcoming mission to send the first ever private pod to land on the lunar surface, and they have offered to take something belonging to her. It will be a sticker with the name of her space blog on it. Furthermore, her family, who are from Leicester in England, have even been invited to wave it goodbye on launch day in Florida at the end of this year.
Elizabeth said: “I can’t wait to see a video of the capsule with my sticker on the moon taken by the lunar lander. I love science and space because there is so much to learn and I love exploring and doing experiments.” As you might expect, she hopes to one day get to the moon herself.
Proud mom Jennifer Norman said: “None of us could believe it when we found out she would have the opportunity to make her mark on the Moon… For her to be included in such a historic moment is incredible and has shown anything is possible - her confidence and ambition have grown so much since she found out."