I know Mae Gemision would be proud.
Keisha Shahaf, a 46-year-old health coach, was traveling from Antigua to London to fix her 18-year-old daughter Anastatia Meyers’ visa situation when she came across a random ad promoting space travel. independent person I will report. She randomly entered her and her daughter’s names to win a free trip to space, and surprisingly, out of her 165,000 other names, Shahaf and Mayers were chosen. I did.
On August 10, the two made history, becoming the first mother-daughter duo, the first woman of Afro-Caribbean descent, and Mayer the youngest person to do so. visiting space. Shahaf and Meyers, who were traveling on Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, were joined by 80-year-old British Olympian John Goodwin, who paid a whopping $250,000 for his seat. Goodwin was the company’s first paying customer, securing the seat in 2005 and making history as only the second person to have Parkinson’s disease. travel to space.
The spacecraft launched from New Mexico and accelerated at about 350 miles per hour, eventually reaching speeds in excess of 2,000 miles per hour. At an altitude of 200,000 feet, passengers unbuckled to experience weightlessness and were immediately able to cling to the plane’s 17 windows and take in spectacular views of Earth from space. Their eyes widened in awe as they saw bodies floating behind them. Five minutes later, they were strapped into their seats and returned to Earth, officially reaching a maximum altitude of 55 miles above the surface, or 290,422 feet. enter the space Based on NASA’s definition of space starting at 80 miles above sea level.
Branson joined the Shahaf and Meyers families in Antigua and Barbuda for the official launch day. The group broke down in tears as the Galactic 02 spaceship took off, an emotional moment for everyone involved. Branson called the moment “amazing” and posted another post to highlight the historic milestone in commercial spaceflight. The plane landed 63 minutes after takeoff to thunderous applause from the crowd, and Shahaf and Meyers spoke to reporters before and after the magical moment.
“I don’t think there is anything else that can deepen our bond more than this. I feel very relieved knowing that.” [she was] Be with me there…I was shocked at how you felt. You are connected to so much more than you expect. I felt like I was part of the team, part of the ship, part of space, part of Earth,” Meyers said.
“I’m still there. I’m not here yet,” Shahaf added.
Virgin Galactic now joins Jeff Bezo’s Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX in space tourism. Branson hopes to offer monthly trips to customers in the future, and this latest trip aims to send ordinary people into space and connect them to a “bigger perspective” on issues affecting Earth. The event is raising funds for Space for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that supports
Shahaf called the whole experience liberating, reflecting on her own childhood cosmic dreams and the full-circle moment.
“When I was two years old, I just looked up at the sky and thought, ‘How am I going to get there?’ But coming from the Caribbean, I didn’t understand how something like this was possible. “The fact that I’m here, the first person to travel to space from Antigua, shows that space is really becoming more accessible,” she said.
congratulations!
Cover photo: These Black women became the first mother-daughter duo to travel to space/(L-R) Anastasia Meyers and her mother Keisha Shahaf/Photo by Andres Layton/Associated Press
