Kate Arkless Gray studied Genetics at Cambridge before embracing a career in radio and earning a broadcast journalist qualification from City University. She currently works for Al Jazeera, but in her spare time is known as “SpaceKate”.

A 10 day visit to Florida for space shuttle Discovery's final launch ended up as a four month epic 'Space Nomad' adventure and a determination to get to space herself. Kate completed the International Space University Space Studies Programme in 2012 and won NASA’s International Space Apps Challenge twice in London, becoming a global winner in 2013. She organised the UK’s first space “unconference”, SpaceUP:UK and has presented her work at the International Astronautical Congress.

Kate has reported on space for Sky News, Al Jazeera, Spaceflight and others and maintains a blog and lively social media presence using her SpaceKate moniker. NASA administrator Charles Bolden called her “a true champion!”, challenging her to get more young people involved with space – which she is always keen to do.

Kate believes there is a fine line between madness and genius, and enjoys walking it. She lives by two mottos: “Make things happen” and “Never regret, just tell good stories”.