First Aussie female astronaut sees potential Down Under

Having lived at the Concordia research station in Antarctica, Dr Christian became the perfect test subject for a manned Mars flight due to the site's isolation and its lower oxygen levels at high altitude.

But having lived on "white Mars", as Concordia is known, the 35-year-old said she had one condition if she is selected for a manned flight to the red planet when missions start in the 2040s.

"As long as the plan is to come back," she told AAP.

"There have been programs - Mars 100 for example - with people committing to go and colonise Mars and not come back.

"That doesn't interest me so much, I'm interested in going there, learning what I can then coming back to friends and family."

The most likely destination for the reserve astronaut, however, is the International Space Station in the coming years.

While the moon remains on the cards, the spot will likely go to someone from the astronaut class before Dr Christian's.

The UK-born, Wollongong-raised reserve astronaut holds British, Italian, Australian and New Zealand citizenship but is hopeful Australia will be the next stop for wannabe space travellers.

Australia does not have its own human space flight program and there are limited pathways for Australians to participate overseas where applicants often have to be citizens of that nation.

But the rapid development of the local space industry has underpinned Dr Christian's optimism, with Australia taking advantage of its relative strengths to position itself as a pioneer in the sector.

Dr Christian pointed to the mining sector, which has knowledge and robotic technology that could be used on the moon.

"This forward looking has been really useful in growing the Australian space sector very, very quickly," she said.

"So I'm exciting to see what's coming up next, I know there is a lot more work going on to show children the benefits of space exploration.

"But I think that word needs to get out there even more because a lot of people don't necessarily understand just how much space is integrated into our daily lives."

Dr Christian said while the level of space research in Australia was extremely strong, the community was small.

"Growing that community will certainly help," she said.