Blue Origin astronaut reveals depression after space flight backlash
A Vietnamese-American astronaut has opened up about her depression after the “tsunami of harassment” she experienced following the world’s first all-female spaceflight earlier this year.
Scientist and civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, 34, was part of the 11-minute Blue Origin spaceflight, whose crew included pop star Katy Perry and Bezos’ wife Lauren Sánchez.
The much-derided flight was criticized by some for its expense and environmental impact.
Speaking about the experience, Nguyen, who became the first Vietnamese woman in space, said the backlash saw her dreams buried under an “avalanche of misogyny.”
In a statement posted on Instagram, Ms Nguyen said that when crew member Gayle King (US news anchor) called to check on her in the days after the flight, “I told her my depression could last for years.”
He called the news coverage and social media reaction that followed the trip “an attack that no human brain is developed to withstand.”
“I didn’t leave Texas for a week, I couldn’t get out of bed. A month later a senior staff member at Blue [Origin] “When he called me, I had to hang up because I couldn’t speak because of my tears.”
Ms. Nyugen, who worked as a scientist researching women’s health and conducted numerous experiments during the Blue Origin flight, said that “everything she worked on as a scientist, including my research on women’s health, the years I trained for this moment, the experiments I conducted in space, the history I wrote as a Vietnamese female astronaut on the 50th anniversary of the US-Vietnam war, the child of boat refugees, the promise I made to myself as a survivor, was swept away by an avalanche.” of misogyny”.
Ms. Nguyen is best known for her work protecting the civil rights of sexual assault victims.
In an interview with the Guardian in March, she said she had put her ambitions of becoming an astronaut on hold after being raped at university and pursuing a years-long campaign for justice.
8 months after realizing his dream, he said “the mists of sadness began to clear” and thanked those who followed him and wished them well. “You all saved me,” he said.
Despite the backlash, “extremely good things have come out,” he said. [the flight]” lists media attention on women’s health research and opportunities to meet world leaders regarding her advocacy work.
Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket lifted off from its launch site in Texas in April, taking a six-woman crew on an 11-minute flight past the internationally recognized limit of space.
The crew also included aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe and filmmaker Kerianne Flynn.
The New Shepard rocket does not require human intervention and is completely automatic.
Blue Origin is a private space company founded in 2000 by billionaire entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, who also founded Amazon.
