Uni of Liverpool student wants to be the first Miss England to become an astronaut

A University of Liverpool student has said she wants to train as an astronaut and become the first beauty queen to go to outer space.

Jessica Gagen is in the final year of studying her integrated Master’s degree in aerospace engineering at Liverpool, and was crowned Miss England two months ago.

She will be competing for the title of Miss World next spring, but after that hopes to become the first beauty queen and model to ever visit outer space.

Jessica plans to apply to become an astronaut within the next three years.

She wants to use her Miss England platform to inspire young women to follow their dreams and be successful in male-dominated industries such as engineering. Her dream is to visit the International Space Station and make educational STEM content, like Tim Peake.

via Instagram @jessicaashley_

She said: “I hope me winning Miss England as well as my aerospace passion will show girls that they can follow their dreams and goals and be whoever they want to be.

“My engineering degree opens up so many doors for me and one day I hope to apply to the European Space Agency to follow my dream. I would love to go to space one day and I’m on the right path.

“After my degree is complete, I would have to complete three years in industry and then I can apply to become and astronaut. My dream would be to visit the International Space Station and educate kids from space and make STEM content up there like Tim Peake did.

“Engineering is such a male dominated industry and I want to educate kids about the different engineering roles and show that women can work in STEM too.”

via SWNS

27-year-old Jessica started her degree alongside her modelling career after wanting to be an engineer from a young age, and said there are similarities between the two professions.

“Both modelling and engineering offer so much variety as careers. Both jobs allow me to work on different projects every day and work all around the world. The similarities between the two industries are why I chose engineering as my back-up.

“At university, my department has never had a soon-to-be Miss World competitor also studying for a degree in aerospace engineering and they think it’s great.”

She said: “I am so passionate about my degree but I only know about the mechanical side to space as opposed to the astrological facts.

“I always say that you learn every day and learning is for life. I want to inspire the next generation.”

Featured image via SWNS and Instagram @jessicaashley_

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