Roberta Bondar made Canada very proud when, in January of 1992, she became the first Canadian woman to go into space. But for Roberta Bondar, the dream of going to space began when she was only a child in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario looking up at the sky. She always found space fascinating, and she believes this fascination led her towards a career as an astronaut.

The formal education that eventually took her into space began in high school with her science and mathematics courses. After high school, Roberta Bondar went to the University of Guelph for a degree in zoology and biology. She graduated from the University of Guelph in 1968 and chose to continue her education at the University of Western Ontario for a Master's Degree. Next, she took her Ph.D. at the University of Toronto. After these six years of studying, Roberta Bondar went to medical school at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. There she became a doctor and her specialty was neurology, the study of the brain. As well as all of her training in science, Roberta Bondar is also a pilot. In fact, she could pilot an airplane before she could even drive a car.

Roberta Bondar had a specific interest in neurology, which was neuro-ophthalmology. This is the study of how the eye works, and how the eyes work with the brain to produce vision. After her internship at Toronto General Hospital, she took more training in neurology at the University of Western Ontario, and specific training in neuro-ophthalmology in Boston and in Toronto.

She was one of the six original Canadian astronauts selected in December, 1983. Her application was chosen from thousands of applicants, and she began training to become an astronaut only months after she was chosen for the program. In 1990, NASA chose her to become the Payload Specialist for a very special flight. She would be in charge of the experiments for the first International Microgravity Laboratory Mission - a mission that would use experiments from around the world to study the effects of weightlessness on the human body. Roberta Bondar's training was perfect for this mission. She flew on the space shuttle Discovery from January 22-30, 1992. It was on this flight that she became the first Canadian woman, and the first neurologist, in space. All of these are accomplishments she feels very proud of, but mostly she was proud of the fact that she flew as a Canadian astronaut. She also feels that it is important for women to know that they can succeed and that they are capable of achieving their goals. She certainly proved this by her space flight.