First Olympian and mother-daughter duo to go to space on Virgin Galactic’s inaugural private astronaut mission
CNN – Entrepreneur and health and wellness coach Keisha Schahaff and her 18-year-old daughter Anastatia Mayers have won seats aboard Virgin Galactic’s inaugural private astronaut mission, set to launch in August. The duo secured their spots through a draw that raised $1.7 million in grants for Space for Humanity, a non-profit organization focused on expanding access to space.
This historic mission will make Schahaff the first person from Antigua, and Mayers the first person from the Caribbean islands, to travel to space. “When I was two years old, just looking up to the skies, I thought, ‘How can I get there?’ But, being from the Caribbean, I didn’t see how something like this would be possible,” said Schahaff in a news release. “The fact that I am here, the first to travel to space from Antigua, shows that space really is becoming more accessible.”
Mayers, currently a second-year undergraduate studying philosophy and physics at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, aims to become the second-youngest person to travel to space. Jon Goodwin, an 80-year-old former canoeist who competed in the 1972 Munich Games and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2014, is aiming to be the second person with the condition to travel to space.
“I hope this inspires all others facing adversity and shows them that challenges don’t have to inhibit or stop them from pursuing their dreams,” said Goodwin in the news release. He was one of the early ticket holders for a trip to space with Virgin Galactic.
The trio will be joined on the mission by Beth Moses, the company’s chief astronaut instructor. Moses has already been to space three times with Virgin Galactic and in 2019 became the first person to fly to space as a passenger on a commercial space vehicle.
Virgin Galactic, founded in the early 2000s, has sold approximately 800 tickets for its space flights, with prices ranging up to $250,000 per ticket. The company aims to make space travel more accessible and has been making significant progress towards that goal.
The upcoming private astronaut mission, called Galactic 02, will have a flight window opening on August 10. The launch will be live-streamed on Virgin Galactic’s website. This announcement follows the successful launch and landing of Virgin Galactic’s first commercial spaceflight on June 29. The research mission, lasting about an hour and a half, conducted experiments during a few minutes of weightlessness more than 50 miles above Earth’s surface. The passengers boarded the VSS Unity, attached to the aircraft VMS Eve, at Virgin Galactic’s spaceport in New Mexico.
Virgin Galactic’s mission represents a significant milestone in the commercial spaceflight industry and further demonstrates the company’s commitment to expanding access to space exploration.