According to the Vietnam Space Center (VNSC) under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, the NS-31 mission of New Shepard will take place in Van Horn, Texas, USA. The launch marks a significant milestone in space exploration and reflects the growing cooperation between Vietnam and the United States.

The event will be livestreamed on Blue Origin’s official website at https://www.blueorigin.com/. Blue Origin is the aerospace company founded by Amazon co-founder Jeff Bezos.

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Six female astronauts are part of the NS-31 crew. Photo: Blue Origin

Born in California to a family of Vietnamese refugees, Amanda Nguyen is the founder of the nonprofit organization Rise. With this flight, she becomes the first Vietnamese-American woman in space.

Blue Origin notes that Nguyen graduated from Harvard University and conducted research at the Harvard Center for Astrophysics, MIT, NASA, and the International Space Science Institute. The astrobiology scientist contributed to NASA’s final Space Shuttle mission, STS-135, and the Kepler telescope program, which focused on discovering exoplanets.

Nguyen was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her advocacy for sexual assault survivors and was named Woman of the Year by Time magazine.

Notably, she will carry 169 lotus seeds (Nelumbo nucifera) provided by the Research and Development Center for Flowers and Ornamental Plants under the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences. After returning from space, the seeds will be used for studies on how spaceflight affects plant growth, contributing to both plant science and space exploration.

Joining Amanda on the NS-31 mission are five other female astronauts: Aisha Bowe, a former aerospace engineer of Bahamian descent; journalist Gayle King; singer Katy Perry; film producer Kerianne Flynn; and journalist Lauren Sánchez. This is the first all-female crew since Valentina Tereshkova's pioneering solo spaceflight in 1963.

The suborbital flight will last approximately 11 minutes, during which the crew will experience several minutes of weightlessness at an altitude of around 105 kilometers. They will be able to view Earth’s curvature and the vast darkness of space before descending by parachute and landing in West Texas.

Du Lam