Yesterday's space shot? Yep, amid the celeb nonsense, there's some inspiration in there

My husband had an abiding interest in physics in general and space exploration in particular. A few weeks before he died, he told me that he'd "pay a million bucks to have my ashes flown into space." Well, I loved my husband, but my response to that - which, by the way, he did agree with - was that "this is the brain tumor talking." But I did hop online and found an outfit that rocketed cremains into space. I told Jim that there was an orbital flight that would be heading out in a couple of years, but a straight up and down shot taking off in the fall. We dubbed the orbital flight the John Glenn, since he was the first American astronaut to circumnavigate earth from space. The straight shot we named the Alan Shepard, the first American astronaut to take flight, which just went up and down.

Jim chose the Alan Shepard, as it was sooner and cheaper. 

So the fall after he died, Jim got his space shot. I have the little metal "space capsule" they returned his bit of ashes in. It sits on my mantel in a tiny Connemara marble urn, which fittingly unites two of Jim's great loves: space and Ireland.

Anyway, if he were alive, I can absolutely see Jim being interested in taking a Blue Origin flight. (And I can absolutely see myself talking him out of it.)

Blue Origin is the Jeff Bezos' space tourism outfit that sends civilians on paid journeys into the wild blue yonder.

And yesterday, Blue Origin sent the first all female "crew" on a ten minute trip into space. I put "crew" in quotes because I think they didn't actually have to do much, like flip switches and conduct experiments, which is what actual astronauts do. I'm pretty sure their role was strictly passenger. Still, they took what I'm sure was a trip of a lifetime.

It's interesting, but not surprising, that the overwhelming percent of those who are doing space travel are men. On my husband's trip, I don't remember that there were any women among his fellow travelers. 

So a key part of the "positioning" of yesterday's Blue Origin flight was that it would inspire young women and girls to become more interested in matters space-related. 

But I don't think this quite squares with the "crew" they chose.

Why, there's Katy Perry in her cute little electric-blue spacesuit. There's Gayle King, the Good Morning, America host and BFF of Oprah Winfrey. And Jeff Bezos' fiancée Lauren Sanchez. (At least Sanchez had the decency to keep her cute little electric-blue spacesuit zipped up. In her last high-visibility public appearance, she was at Trump's inauguration with her boobs hanging out.)

Yes, I realize that Katy Perry will attract a lot of attention because she's, well, Katy Perry. But will that attention inspire interest in becoming a STEM girl, or will it inspire trying to become a singer-celeb who can afford to take a Blue Origin flight?

Although I did see her once in a restaurant in Charleston, SC, I don't know a lot about Gayle King. But my impression is that she is intelligent, pleasant, and good at her jobs as news/entertainment show host and Oprah BFF. Her wikipedia bio now states that she's a "commercial astronaut." Huh? She got shot into space, just like my husband's ashes. Does this make Jim a "commercial astronaut" of the posthumous variety?

Pre-Bezos, Lauren Sanchez was a reporter, but now she's a philanthropist who's helping spend Jeff Bezo's money. (Admittedly, his foundations appear to support organizations dedicated to causes like the greening of poor communities, fighting climate change, and trying to solve homelessness. Wonder if Trump knows about that climate change thang?) And, yes, she was a pilot. And she's written a kids' book called "The Fly Who Flew Into Space." But, frankly, I think she'd be more of an inspiration if she wasn't so frequently pictured with her boobs hanging out. The inauguration wasn't a one-off. And why did this perfectly pretty woman fall into the Mar-a-Lago puffy lip enhancement trap???

The other "crew" members included Kerianne Flynn, a film producer who makes indie films that are socially-conscious. She has one coming out about Lilly Ledbetter, the woman who fought the good fight for equal pay for equal work. And she's had a long standing interest in space, so there's that. So, certainly an accomplished person - as, of course, are Perry, King, and Sanchez. But STEM-inspiring?

Then we get down to the two space tourists who actually would be the ones to inspire young woman and girls to pursue space/science/tech careers. Of course, neither Amanda Nguyen nor Aisha Bowe is a celebrity, so they're not getting the play that the others (at least Perry, King, and Sanchez) are.

Amanda Nguyen is a civil rights activist who focuses on the rights of rape and sexual assault survivors. While she was an undergrad at Harvard, studying astrophysics, she interned at NASA and conducted research on exoplanets. (Yeah, I had to look it up: planets outside of the solar system.) She's a bioastronautics researcher - yeah, another one I had to look up: a study of the physical impact of space travel on living organisms - who also spent some time as a fellow at MIT's Media Lab. So, bona fide STEM girl, and someone who's definitely got inspiration written all over her.

But the truly inspiring crew member has got to be Aisha Bowe. She's a former NASA engineer, who had this to say about her journey, and the criticism it has received from those (like me, I guess) who considered yesterday's flight a bit stuntlike, a bit frivolous:

When I decided that I was going to pursue aerospace engineering, it was after my high school guidance counselor told me that I should pursue cosmetology because she did not think that I would be suited for this field. I went from pre-algebra and community college to do two degrees in aerospace engineering, to working for NASA, to being able to sit on the stage and say: ‘It is bigger than the criticism.’ (Source: CNN)

Someone who was advised to become a hairdresser who went on to get bachelor's and master's degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan? An entrepreneur and STEM-activist who once mentored a 13-year-old girl who grew up to be an aerospace engineer working at Blue Origin? A Black woman, the daughter of a Bahamian immigrant? 

Now THIS is someone who's worthy of the being described as an inspiration! I just love Aisha Bowe's story!

But I'm ending with a shoutout to the original women-in-space inspiration, the estimable Sally Ride!

Wish Sally Ride were still with us. They could have sent her on this all-female Blue Origin trip and left one of the celebrities home.