Libby Jackson facts for kids
Elizabeth "Libby" Anne Jackson is a British expert in space exploration. She is currently the Head of Space at the Science Museum, London. Libby was born on March 18, 1981. She has received special honors, including an OBE, which stands for Officer of the Order of the British Empire. This award recognizes her important contributions to the space field.
Early Life and Learning
Libby Jackson loved space from a very young age. When she was just seven years old, she even wrote a "Travel Guide to Mars"! This showed how much she was interested in space.
At fifteen, Libby went to a special Space School. There, she learned even more about space. For her advanced high school studies, she chose Physics, Maths, Further Maths, and Music.
When she was seventeen, Libby visited NASA's Johnson Space Center. She spent time with a flight director, learning what they do. This experience made her very interested in human spaceflight, which is about sending people into space.
Libby continued her education at university. In 2002, she earned a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in physics from Imperial College London. The next year, in 2003, she completed a Master of Science (MSc) degree in Astronautics and Space Engineering at Cranfield University. Astronautics and Space Engineering is all about designing and building spacecraft.
Working in Space
After finishing her studies, Libby Jackson started her career as an engineer at a company called EADS Astrium.
In 2007, Libby began working at Europe's control center for the International Space Station (ISS). She was a flight instructor and controller at the Columbus Control Centre. This meant she helped train astronauts and managed parts of the space station from Earth.
By 2010, she became the director for the ISS European Space Agency (ESA) Columbus Module. This module is a science lab on the ISS.
Libby joined the UK Space Agency in 2014. She became the main spokesperson for Tim Peake's mission to the ISS. Tim Peake was the first British ESA astronaut.
Libby also helped organize the UK Space Agency's education and outreach programs for Tim Peake's mission. These programs helped teach people, especially young students, about space. She also managed the Human Exploration Programme at the UK Space Agency. This role involved looking after the UK's interests in sending humans to space and doing science in microgravity (weightlessness). Later, she became the Head of Space Exploration for the agency.
In 2019, the University of Kent gave her an honorary Doctor of Science degree. This was to recognize her important work. In 2023, she received the Order of the British Empire (OBE) award for her great work in the space field. She also received the Leif Erikson Exploration History Award for her efforts to share the stories of women astronauts and space professionals.
In 2025, Libby Jackson became the first "Head of Space" at the Science Museum, London. In this role, she helps share information about space with the public. She also supports the museum's curators who look after the exhibits.
Sharing Space with Everyone
Libby Jackson works hard to help people understand and appreciate space science and engineering. She often appears in the media and speaks at big events.
In 2016, Libby ran the London Marathon while wearing an astronaut costume! At the same event, Tim Peake made history by running a marathon in space.
Libby was part of a team that won the Sir Arthur Clarke Award in 2016. This award was for their amazing outreach activities during Tim Peake's Principia Mission. These activities helped get many people excited about space.
Libby has also written books about space. Her first book, A Galaxy of Her Own, was published in 2017. Her second book, Space Explorers, came out in 2020.
