N.S. woman over the moon to join NASA



CBC News
Posted: May 11, 2011 9:15 PM AT



Tiziana Trabucchi is excited about being chosen to work with NASA this summer in Houston.Tiziana Trabucchi is excited about being chosen to work with NASA this summer in Houston. (CBC)

A Nova Scotia woman has been chosen by NASA to help evaluate future landing sites on the moon.

Tiziana Trabucchi, of Truro, is one of 10 people chosen from around the world to spend 10 weeks this summer at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Originally from Italy, Trabucchi was a young child when NASA launched its last manned mission to the moon in 1972, but she has developed an excitement for the program and the need to return.

Trabucchi has a master's degree in geology and is working on her PhD in Martian geology at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton.

"I'm really, really excited about this. I'm really happy," she said Tuesday of being chosen. "I mean, it's something that I wouldn't dream."

Trabucchi said she doesn't really know why she was chosen to take part in the project, except "maybe because I am a little bit eclectic."

"This is not strictly related to my thesis. I'm certain I can learn a lot from this. I will be there for 10 weeks. I think I can use this experience in order to finish my thesis," she said.

Trabucchi said the moon is a "strategic place in terms of energy for the future that we can pick up from there" and other valuable resources.

"We have to go there [to the moon], we have to prove that we are able to do it. If you study the moon, it can help you to also better understand the Earth," she said.

Trabbuchi said she will be excited to be "in the NASA environment and to be with nine different people from all over the world. I like international teamwork."

She heads for Houston at the end of the week.


Original Post: CBC News

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