This past Thursday, Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket carried six humans to the edge of space, passing the Kármán Line, and reaching an apogee of 351,276 feet! Among the crew is an engineer, a professor, an entrepreneur, a philanthropic couple, and a former civil servant. These individuals come from many different backgrounds and walks of life. Yet they all share the same passion for pushing the frontiers of exploration.
Lately I have been reflecting on the unifying power of space to bridge generational, socio-economic, political, and cultural divides. There were several stories about these space voyagers that really resonated with me that I would like to share here. Different People. Same Humanity.
Dr. George Nield is the President of Commercial Space Technologies, LLC. He worked at NASA as the Manager of the Flight Integration Office for the Space Shuttle Program and later served as a senior executive of the Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, Office of Commercial Space Transportation. George’s career of service in the public and private sector is truly inspiring.
That story brought memories of my childhood as I used to do the same thing! I have wanted to be an astronaut since I was a little kid. There were no libraries in my hometown in Puerto Rico, so newspaper articles and the Reader’s Digest became my main sources of information about human spaceflight and NASA rocket launches.
Sharon Hagle is the CEO and founder of SpaceKids Global, a nonprofit whose vision is “to educate and actively engage a national audience of elementary school students in STEAM+ Environment activities, that introduce kids to the diversity of careers in space exploration and technology.”
As an informal science educator, I have witnessed how both science and exploration can ignite the curiosity within students to pursue the unknowns. I am very excited to see Sharon fly to space. I got to learn more about the SpaceKids Global programs and Sharon’s mission to inspire the next generation of STEM professionals. Sharon and her husband Marc even became the first married couple to fly on a commercial suborbital vehicle.
Gary Lai is New Shepard's Chief Architect and one of Blue Origin’s first 20 employees. Gary has been involved in all aspects of the design and development, including the key safety systems on the Crew Capsule. Gary is also a Cornellian like me!
What a great reminder that hard work and determination always pays off. You are an inspiration to all, Gary!
These suborbital spaceflight vehicles are intended to democratize access to space so that many people eventually get to experience that Cosmic perspective of seeing our home planet from above. For more inspiration, you can read Carl Sagan’s excerpts from the 'Pale Blue Dot' in my previous article.
I hope to fly to space someday onboard one of these suborbital vehicles. So let’s keep aiming high!
Yajaira
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Cover Photo: Drone view of the New Shepard rocket launch (Credit: Blue Origin)
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