All systems are go for Aisha Bowe, a 2013 BEYA alum who flew to space Monday. The launch window opened at 8:30 a.m. CDT (13:30 UTC), and space enthusiasts tuned in live from 7 a.m. CDT.
- The Crew Capsule reached an apogee of 346,802 ft AGL / 350,449 ft MSL (106 km AGL / 107 km MSL).
- The booster reached an apogee of 346,481 ft AGL / 350,128 ft MSL (106 km AGL / 107 km MSL).
- The official launch time was 8:30:00 AM CDT / 13:30:00 UTC.
- The capsule landing occurred at 8:40:21 AM CDT / 13:40:21 UTC. The mission elapsed time was 10 minutes 21 seconds.
More than a year ago, Bowe, a former NASA rocket scientist, was confirmed to fly on New Shepard, marking her as the first Black woman to travel on a commercial flight to space with Blue Origin, the spaceflight company founded by Jeff Bezos.
New Shepard is a reusable suborbital rocket system named after astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American in space.
With this flight, Bowe became one of a select group of Black women to cross the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary of space.
This moment comes 30 years after Mae Jemison, the first Black woman to travel to space, made her historic flight in 1992.
Since Jemison, other Black women who have achieved this distinction include NASA astronauts Jeanette J. Epps, Stephanie Wilson, Joan Higginbotham, Jessica Watkins, and Dr. Sian Proctor, who flew on the SpaceX Inspiration4 mission.
I've dedicated my life to helping people break stereotypes, Bowe said. I am honored to follow in the footsteps of these pioneers as we begin to realize the potential of public access to space.
Despite being advised by a high school guidance counselor to study cosmetology, Bowe chose to pursue mathematics at Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor.
She later transferred to the University of Michigan, where she earned both her undergraduate and master’s degrees in aerospace engineering.
In addition to her work at NASA as a rocket scientist, Bowe is the founder and CEO of STEMBoard, an award-winning tech company that ranks on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing companies in America.
She is also among a select group of women of color who have raised over $1 million in funding. Her venture, LINGO, is a hands-on, self-paced coding kit that enables students to learn coding at home and is available on Amazon, Target, and Walmart.
In 2013, Bowe moderated a panel of federal scientists and engineers at the BEYA STEM Conference and received a Special Recognition award for promoting STEM to historically underrepresented groups.
Blue Origin's human flight, NS-31, lifted off from Launch Site One in West Texas on April 14. The mission is the 11th human flight for the New Shepard program and the 31st in its history.
To date, the program has flown more than 50 people above the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary of space.
This is the first all-female flight crew since Valentina Tereshkova’s solo spaceflight, which took place in 1963. Blue Origin's crew had six people flying on its NS-31 mission.
The crew included Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyễn, Gayle King, Katy Perry, Kerianne Flynn, and Lauren Sánchez, who brought the mission together.
She is honored to lead a team of explorers on a mission to challenge their perspectives of Earth, empowering them to share their stories to inspire future generations. additionally, Blue Origin released the NS-31 mission patch.
A few of the key symbols embedded include the target star symbolizes Aisha Bowe’s ambition for setting big goals, passion for STEM, and commitment to inspiring future generations, scales of justice symbolize Amanda Nguyễn’s efforts to advocate for civil rights, break barriers, and empower everyday people to create change, shooting star microphone represents Gayle King’s commitment to sharing important stories with the world, firework symbolizes Katy Perry’s global influence across music, pop culture, and philanthropy, and the film reel symbolizes Kerianne Flynn’s passion for filmmaking, storytelling, and crafting beautiful narratives.
Flynn the Fly, the main character in Lauren Sánchez’s bestselling children’s book, The Fly Who Flew to Space, is along for the ride.
The story is about overcoming adversity, and kids with learning differences who are pursuing their dreams.