How to become a space scientist

From studying chunks of meteorites that have come from deep within our solar system to deepening our understanding of environments that could support extraterrestrial life, our space expert Dr Helena Bates shares her experiences of what it’s like to be a space scientist.

What’s your job and what does it involve? 

I’m a researcher of meteorites, which are rocks from space. I study them to unlock their secrets so we can better understand our own solar system. 

One part of the research process is done in the labs here at the Museum. I use high-powered microscopes to look at really small-scale features of rock samples and I fire various lasers at them to see what happens. If I’m at this stage of the research, I spend all day in a lab. It’s hands-on and very fun!

Once I’ve finished that process, which normally takes a couple of weeks, I move onto the next stage, which is the processing of the data. This stage involves sitting at a computer, lots of meetings and a fair amount of coding. I might also be having conversations with an expert from a particular field.

After that I move onto the writing-up stage where I knuckle down with my headphones on and essentially write down what I’ve done – where I’ve got the samples from, how I’ve done lab work with them, how I’ve processed the data and who’s been involved.  

Do you enjoy all three of those different parts equally?

I do! My job is split into three distinct parts and it’s good to break it up and have variety. By the end of the lab work, for example, I might be ready for a change and ready for some time at my desk, but I do really enjoy all of the stages equally. 

What made you want to get into this field? Was there something in particular that sparked this passion for you?

I think I’ve always, always loved space and I’m so lucky now to do the thing I wanted to do when I was three years old. I used to have these big books with pictures of galaxies. I was also a big science fiction fan, and I loved Star Wars.

When I was about 12, the British Astronomical Association had an essay competition that was asking why we wanted to have a career in space science. I wrote in an essay saying that I wanted Star Wars to be real and the essay actually got highly commended. 
 
I wasn’t really interested in the big questions to do with space, like how galaxies formed and how did the universe begin, I was more interested in the questions about our own solar system – how planets formed or why Jupiter is so different from Earth. That interest led me to the study of rocks in our solar system and the study of meteorites.

What subjects did you focus on to get into this field?

I thought that the only path for going and studying space science was through physics and maths. I loved physics, but I really struggled with maths. I think in reality I wasn’t that bad at maths but I didn’t enjoy it, and because of this, I thought I couldn’t do space science. 

I remember going for an open day at Imperial University. They gave a talk where they explained that geology is the study of rocks, not just on Earth, but in space too. I didn’t really think space science was an option for me until I was looking at universities and what subjects I wanted to do.

The great thing about geology is that it’s generally something that people don’t study at school. People normally study the core sciences at school like physics, biology and chemistry. It’s only really at university when people begin to study geology, and because of that, people come at it from all different streams. 

Do you work with experts from different fields like physicists and mathematicians? 

It’s an incredibly broad science and we have experts from every single field you can think of. We have physicists who are looking at where meteorites have come from and the sort of processes that are involved in getting meteorites to Earth. There are also biologists who do astrobiology and chemists who are doing the molecular structure of meteorites.

It’s so broad and we collaborate with so many different people from a variety of fields. I think it’s one of the broader sciences that exists. 

After studying science at undergraduate level what would the next steps be towards a role like this?

Generally, I think if you want to do research in a professional capacity, you probably need a PhD. I think the one piece of advice I wish I’d been given was to take a little bit of a break between a master’s degree and a PhD.

I think if you go straight from completing an undergraduate degree to a master’s and then a PhD, it can be quite intense. I went to university for eight years, which is a really long time to be studying.

If you take some time out and do something different for a while, you end up approaching a PhD with a really good attitude, and you view yourself as having a job instead of being a student.

Would you recommend people joining societies or getting work experience?

This subject isn’t really covered much at school. You might do a little bit of space science in physics but there’s not loads so it’s good to find as much of the subject where you can. It’s great to visit museums, do courses and join societies.

I really recommend reading books as well. There’s lots of online talks now too and resources like YouTube, which weren’t available when I was growing up.

In your role, do you collaborate with people from other organisations?

Yes, very much so! We’re a very collaborative team of people. Geology in particular is quite small, so everyone knows each other, and we have a lot of collaboration.

I’m very lucky to be part of the science team for NASA’s OSIRIS REx. I work with the NASA team on that project, and I have colleagues who are involved with the Japanese space agency. They’ve worked on projects including the Hayabusa2 mission, which was a sample return to an asteroid, and also a new mission called the Martian Moon Explorer, which is a project to visit the moons of Mars.

We work with the European Space Agency and our Mars team does a lot of work on the Rosalind Franklin rover, which is part of the ExoMars mission to explore the surface of Mars. We also work with research institutions across the world, and we travel all over the place to use labs and facilities.

Are there any disadvantages to your job?

I think being an academic is perhaps quite isolating, and it requires a lot of self-motivation. I think that’s one of those reasons why I said it sometimes helps to do something else between studying at university and doing a PhD because you can learn how to separate work and personal time better. It was something I struggled with initially because I went straight from university to academia.

What’s your favourite part about your job?

There’s so much! I get to work with materials from space. I have a genuine childlike glee that I’m doing the thing I wanted to do when I was really little, which is touching pieces of space – with gloves on of course! I get to take meteorites that have come from the outer solar system and work to try and unlock their secrets. I think that that’s just so special, and I feel very lucky.

Do you have any moments in your career that stand out as being particularly memorable?

I was part of the science team on the OSIRIS-REx mission and that was a huge career highlight.

When they brought the samples of the asteroid back to Earth, it was on the news and I had a bunch of people over at my flat, including my parents. It was so exciting and also bizarre because in the lead up to that event we’d had daily meetings with NASA where we’d worked out what we were going to do with the samples and there had been this huge build-up and now it was actually happening! It launched in 2016, which is when I started my PhD, so I’d seen the whole process.

Have you got any final bits of advice for people who might be considering a similar role?

Don’t think that this career isn’t an option because the jobs might not be obvious. Being an academic isn’t normally what people think of when they think of jobs.

Try and keep up to date with the news and talks. Keep an eye out for online resources and events too because there’s so much out there. Be enthusiastic and attack this field from any direction you can.

Want to learn more about space? Visit our exhibition, Space: Could Life Exist Beyond Earth? Open until 22 February 2026. Book your tickets.