Anay Ashwin: 
Human spaceflight and space medicine

Anay Ashwin
Haileybury College, Melbourne, Australia
University of Southern Queensland’s (UniSQ), Australia

Anay Ashwin is a high school student from Melbourne (Haileybury College) whose goal is space travel and space medicine. In 2025, he accelerated his way through the University of Southern Queensland’s Head Start programme to study at university level, in line with his ambitions in bioastronautics.

Even before Head Start programme, Anay had a string of wins in STEM competitions - first place in the International Mission to Mars Engineering Design Competition and third place in the Australian Space Agency's ELO2 Big Dipper Challenge with a lunar regolith capture device that contributed to Australia’s first lunar rover initiative.

His research and lecturing activities are unusually extensive for his age. In 2024, he was the youngest speaker at the International Astronautical Congress in Italy, where he spoke about how augmented reality based on indigenous knowledge could assist astronauts on space missions. He also gave a talk at the Australian Space Research Conference on biophilic and terraphilic elements in VR for astronaut mental health and spoke at the International Mars Society Convention and the AIAA Student Conference.

In addition to his labs and lectures, Anay works to open doors for others. At the age of 13, he started the podcast “I Am Not a Rocket Scientist” where he interviews personalities such as Dr Shawna Pandya, Dr Rowena Christiansen, Dr Meganne Christian and Michelle Keegan to show that “space is for everyone”

You can find out more about Anay's idea of collecting lunar regolith and other projects here and here:
UPDATE, May 2025: Future space doctor launches his studies early at UniSQ (www, LinkedIn)

The links to Anay's podcast "I Am Not A Rocket Scientist": Apple, Spotify.

Anay’s gSPARK orientation: Human spaceflight medicine, XR and youth pathways to space

With support from his host institutions and Knowledge Angels, Anay is developing projects at the intersection of aerospace medicine, extended reality (XR), and education. Drawing on his analogue astronaut experience, competition projects, and conference presentations, he aims to:

• explore how augmented and virtual reality – including Indigenous knowledge, biophilic, and terraphilic design – can support astronaut mental health, decision-making, and connection to Earth during long-duration missions;

• use his own journey through Haileybury, UniSQ Head Start, and international conferences as a case study to map practical pathways into aerospace medicine and human spaceflight for other young people;

• leverage his roles as podcast host, student intern, and youth ambassador to connect clinicians, researchers, and students, turning conversations into collaborations, mentoring opportunities, and concrete project ideas.

Through gSPARK, Anay is learning to combine rigorous human spaceflight research with public outreach, helping to shape a future in which space medicine and space engineering are more inclusive, innovative, and accessible to the next generation.