Virgin Galactic marked several elements that become a milestone for space research, after its second suborbital flight made on August 10. One of them was the incorporation of Anastatia Mayers, who at the age of 18 became the youngest woman to leave the borders of the Earth.
That second Virgin Galactic flight, although it was not the first to be private, was the debut of the company’s work with tourists. Besides the young Anastatia, on the flight were her mother Keisha Schahaff and former British athlete Jon Goodwing.
The way that Anastatia Mayers, and her mother, managed to be a part of this iconic crew that went into space is unusual. The two won the ticket thanks to a contest that Virgin Galactic held for this orbital flight.
Anastatia, a philosophy and physics student at the University of Aberdeen in the UKrecounted how surprised she was after receiving the news from her mother.
“My mom FaceTimed me at a really random time that night and it was just my face on the screen, you couldn’t see anything else. (…) Richard Branson picked up the phone and I was stunned,” said the young woman, according to a review hypertextual.
On Saturday, #galactic02 Astronauts Keisha & Ana were welcomed back home by The Hon Melford Nicholas on behalf of the government of Antigua and Barbuda, along with @antiguabarbuda official.
Today, Keisha & Ana had the honor of presenting The Hon Charles Fernandez, the Minister… pic.twitter.com/Rc8ZNbmu7i
—Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) August 22, 2023
What did he say about space?
“Being in space and seeing the Earth with your own eyes is a very peaceful and loving experience. The whole experience was very connecting and emotional. I remember when they started counting down, like saying three minutes to launch, one minute to launch, I thought, ‘My God, this is really happening,’ Anastatia recounts, in statements originally published on the BBC site.
“It feels like you are on a normal commercial flight, it was very smooth. It’s just an unbelievably beautiful sight, it’s unbelievable,” she concluded.
Anastatia is the youngest woman to travel to space. She surpasses astronaut Valentina Tereshkova, who at the age of 26 became the first woman to leave Earth, in 1963.