There are amazing women, and there are extraordinary women.
And that’s the least you can say about Nancy Vermeulen ...
When she was six years old, she tinkered together a telescope with magnifying glasses. When she was fifteen, she already guided tours at the observatory Urania in Hove, Belgium.
No wonder she became an astronomer. In order to have an opportunity to become an astronaut at the ESA (European Space Agency) she has become an airline pilot. She even flew with an Airbus 300 cargo plane to Baghdad during the Iraq war.
When things started to go down in aviation, she returned to science.
She became a researcher at the Technical University of Delft (The Netherlands) and at the Royal Meteorological Institute (RMI) of Belgium where she contributed in the development of a new instrument to measure climate change.
But flying remained her passion. During her off time she trained new pilots as a flight instructor and flew aerobatic flights.
In 2008 she took part in the astronaut selections of ESA, only one in ten participants was a woman.
In 2009 Nancy organized a "Zero Gravity Flight" for the Belgian national TV.
In 2010 she was Chief Organizer and Commander of the Mars Simulation Mission “MDRS90” in Utah, U.S.A.
Nancy’s passion for aero- and astronautics brought her into personal contact with one of the greatest pioneers of the commercial space industry, Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson.
Nancy specialized as a flight instructor for professional pilots, flew private jets and became an independent specialist in “Space Training”.
Nancy Vermeulen is the founder of the "SPACE TRAINING ACADEMY".
At the Space Training Academy, we prepare genuine space tourists and suborbital scientists for space travel. Over 600 private individuals worldwide have meanwhile booked a space voyage.
Bringing the universe closer to people and vice a versa, that is Nancy Vermeulen’s personal mission. For that reason, Nancy was the first in Europe to develop a non-governmental training programme in which prospective space travellers can prepare themselves for a space voyage. In 2011 was the kick-off, when Nancy Vermeulen gave training to a future private astronaut of Virgin Galactic.
In collaboration with the Delft University of Technology and Desdemona in Soesterberg, we are proud to offer a unique training programme. The purpose of the training at the Space Training Academy is to prepare private astronauts both physically and psychologically for their space flight.
Nancy Vermeulen also applies her combined knowledge and experience to the business community by giving lectures, workshops and teambuilding events. And she does that in a very accessible and professional manner. It is with good reason that Nancy Vermeulen is a highly sought after international speaker.
