Sara García Alonso is training as part of ESA’s astronaut program for a potential first mission to space. Selected from over 22,000 applicants, she is completing intensive technical, diving and survival training between Spain and Cologne. In Spain in particular, the molecular biologist is growing beyond her role as a scientist and communicator and increasingly represents space and science in public. Her training ends in 2026 - then she awaits her first mission. Also this time around: a trip to the Antarctic, sensory hairs on elephant trunks, mysterious megaliths and why the sky is blue.