Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

NASA astronaut coming to Rotorua for STEM in the Community initiative

Rotorua Weekender
23 Nov, 2022 02:34 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
NASA astronaut and microbiologist Dr Kate Rubins.

NASA astronaut and microbiologist Dr Kate Rubins.

Record-breaking NASA astronaut and microbiologist Dr Kate Rubins will be touching down in Aotearoa New Zealand for the first time, and she’ll be visiting Rotorua while she’s here.

Rubins is taking part in a STEM in the Community initiative organised by Tauranga STEM Festival (STEMFest)/STEM Wana Trust).

She will be touring the central North Island, visiting Palmerston North, Taupō, Rotorua, and Tauranga in early January 2023.

Rubins will be starting her tour at Palmerston North’s Te Manawa Museum on Sunday, January 8 with an interactive workshop for families before stopping off at Taupō and Rotorua on Monday, January 9 for a meet-and-greet with young fans of astronomy and science. The tour will culminate in a waterfront ‘Evening Under the Stars’ extravaganza at Tauranga’s Strand on Tuesday, January 10.

Rubins was the first person to sequence DNA in space, successfully sequencing samples of mouse, bacteria, and virus DNA in microgravity.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

During her two spaceflight missions, she has logged a total of 300 days in space and conducted four spacewalks.

She was inspired to learn about the stars with her dad, going to local “star-gazing” gatherings and science museums from as early as she could remember.

From the age of six he knew she wanted to be an astronaut, as she has always been fascinated with science and exploring the world - something that has not changed.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
NASA astronaut and microbiologist Dr Kate Rubins.
NASA astronaut and microbiologist Dr Kate Rubins.

STEMFest founder Tia Lush says: “We’re thrilled to be able to welcome Dr Rubins to Aotearoa and introduce her to our STEM-loving tamariki and rangatahi”.

“Our goal for this tour is to bring the opportunity of meeting a real-life NASA astronaut directly to the community, without the barriers of expensive tickets [and] family-unfriendly venues, and outside of the usual big city hubs.

“We hope that with these free engagements, we see a variety of people of all ages and backgrounds who might never have thought they could meet an astronaut feeling inspired to pursue their dreams.

“The success of STEMFest has shown that we are a nation of curious thinkers, and space is another field where Aotearoa New Zealand’s future workforce will need creative problem solvers. We encourage whānau to get along to one of the locations and to bring their curiosity.”

It is free to attend any of the locations, but tickets are required. Go to www.stemfest.nz for more details and free tickets.

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Premium
Rotorua Daily Post

'Real concerns': Judge critical of Auckland rehab service

20 Sep 06:00 PM
Rotorua Daily Post

'Distressing incident': Two cops badly attacked by dog during arrest

19 Sep 10:51 PM
Rotorua Daily Post

'Heart of gold': Rotorua teen's act of kindness goes viral

19 Sep 06:00 PM

Sponsored

Kiwi campaign keeps on giving

07 Sep 12:00 PM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Premium
Premium
'Real concerns': Judge critical of Auckland rehab service
Rotorua Daily Post

'Real concerns': Judge critical of Auckland rehab service

Corrections says it is aware of concerns from the judiciary about the Grace Foundation.

20 Sep 06:00 PM
'Distressing incident': Two cops badly attacked by dog during arrest
Rotorua Daily Post

'Distressing incident': Two cops badly attacked by dog during arrest

19 Sep 10:51 PM
'Heart of gold': Rotorua teen's act of kindness goes viral
Rotorua Daily Post

'Heart of gold': Rotorua teen's act of kindness goes viral

19 Sep 06:00 PM


Kiwi campaign keeps on giving
Sponsored

Kiwi campaign keeps on giving

07 Sep 12:00 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP