UBC alumna and NASA astronaut Jessica Meier is shown in this undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout — UBC (Mandatory Credit)

By The Canadian Press

Astronaut and UBC alumna answers questions from space

Mar 26, 2026 | 12:24 PM

VANCOUVER — University of British Columbia alumna Jessica Meir has given current students a look at her office — as an astronaut in the orbiting International Space Station.

Meir is the commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission to the station, where she’s living for eight months.

U.S.-based Meir, who studied zoology at UBC from 2009 to 2012, answered questions from high school and university students, on subjects ranging from missing her husband and three-year-old daughter to how she keeps her curly hair clean in space.

Meir spoke about how hard it is to adjust to basic tasks like drinking water or using the washroom in a zero-gravity environment.

She spoke for about 20 minutes on the Zoom call that was screened at the alumni association building at the Vancouver campus, with a UBC flag in the background and her distinctive hair floating above her.

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Meir did somersaults for the audience which also included daycare students, one dressed in a Nasa-branded spacesuit costume.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 26, 2026.

Marissa Birnie, The Canadian Press