Of Course The Youngest Person To Go To Space Is A Black Girl

Humanity’s documented interest in space began millennia ago, with the systematic astronomical observations of the Assyro-Babylonians in 1000 BCE marking the first time humans created a system to understand the galaxy above us. It would take thousands more years before anyone actually ventured into space. Soviet pilot Yuri Gagarin made history for that in 1961, and in the years that followed, space exploration was limited to astronauts who’d spent their entire lives training for life in the sky. However, in more recent times, the accessibility of space has become a topic of conversation; slowly but surely, more people are looking to (temporarily) leave Earth to see what space is all about. On August 10, American aerospace company Virgin Galactic launched its first ever Private Astronaut Mission, making history by sending three people on a commercial flight beyond the stars — including 18-year-old Anastatia Mayers, the youngest person ever to travel space.

The beginning of the Space Race in the 1950s saw the United States and Russia (formerly the Soviet Union) scrambling to see who could achieve the most success outside of Earth's gravitational pull. For decades, the rigorous space programs of the two countries went head-to-head, and their competition spawned important milestones in spaceflight like satellite navigation, probes to far-off planets, and human travel in space. People who weren’t trained astronauts watched the battle unfold from the safety of the ground, but over time, they weren’t content to be bystanders — they wanted to float in space, too. Enter space tourism and commercial space flights. 

The last few years have seen an uptick in space tourism, with Elon Musk and the controversial SpaceX leading the wave, but yesterday, Virgin Galactic (founded by Richard Branson and the Virgin Group conglomerate) launched its own commercial spaceflight initiative. Virgin Galactic’s first Private Astronaut Mission features a small crew of three civilians: 1972 Munich Games Olympian Jon Goodwin and mother-daughter duo Keisha Schahaff and Anastatia Mayers. In July, Schahaff was selected in a sweepstakes that resulted in her winning two seats on the Virgin Galactic’s newest mission (as part of Space for Humanity and its Citizen Astronaut Program), and she invited her daughter to join her on the big adventure. 

“I am very excited for this,” Mayers told Unbothered in a Zoom interview just days before her and her mother’s trip to space, grinning widely. “I'm very grateful to be able to have this experience. I think the nerves are finally starting to kick in, but there's nothing that I'm worried about. It's just a very big moment.”

Virgin Galactic couldn’t have chosen a better passenger for its inaugural Private Astronaut Mission. Mayers, a University of Aberdeen in Scotland double majoring in physics and philosophy, shared that she’s always been curious about life beyond the limits of Earth. The prospect of going to space has evoked a sort of existential journey for the university student. 

“[My interest] first started in grade four when we were learning about astronomy,” Mayers mused. “I was fascinated by the other planets, specifically by the realization that we weren't the only things out there. It's comforting to know that we aren't the only organisms living within this vast universe. But before we can understand anything or anyone else, anything bigger than ourselves, we need to first understand ourselves. That's what's really been helping me cope with this impending voyage. I’ve been able to understand myself and why I function the way I do and the world around me. I think it'll help me grasp the experience of being in space a lot more.”

Strengthening her mental fortitude was only half the journey; Mayers revealed that Virgin Galactic also put them through a special training program to prepare them for their time in space. The journey is less Interstellar, more Blue Origin (sans-William Shatner’s devastation post-flight sadness), but even though the whole flight duration was about 90 minutes, space travel is no joke — being out in space can pose some serious risks to health. Thankfully, Mayers, Scahaff, and Goodwin had a team of experienced astronauts by their side every step of the way.

There’s been healthy discourse about the morality of space tourism, with many skeptics raising concerns about the expansion of space exploration potentially turning into something that could look scarily akin to intergalactic colonization. On one hand, time has very clearly shown us the dark possibilities of what “exploration” can do; the world is still dealing with the many systemic and interpersonal consequences of centuries of colonialism, and there are those whose plans might cause history to repeat itself, this time on Mars. (The recent reveal that the US government has recovered “non-human-biologics” has only furthered anxieties about other life forms in space being exploited. Now that we know they’re out there, could aliens be in danger because of us?) But on the other end of the argument, space tourism is attempting to make space tangible and more accessible to the masses — sort of. 

If you’re considering a jaunt in space, Virgin Galactic’s waiting list is about 800 people long. Goodwin, the other crew member aboard yesterday’s spacecraft, was among the first to sign up and pay for a ticket back in 2005 — so you’ve got a long way (and a couple hundred thousand dollars) to go. Fortunately, Virgin Galactic is looking for ways to make the experience more inclusive. While it’s true that, at present, booking a seat on a commercial spacecraft can cost upwards of $450,000, Virgin Galactic is aiming to democratize space travel through considering frequent lottery initiatives that will allow others to partake so that it won’t be a once-in-a-lifetime event reserved for the one percent.  

“Space is still such a foreign concept in so many different ways — we all think about it as landing on the moon or being at the space station for a long stretch of time. But Virgin Galactic is trying to make space travel accessible by normalizing and democratizing the experience,” a Virgin Galactic representative explained. “We want to make space possible for everyone and have it be an approachable experience. You're not strapping into a rocket, you're taking a plane just like you've done before many times. Through the Private Astronaut Mission and the Space for Humanity lottery [that selected Mayers and Schahaff], we’re trying to create more opportunities to have even more flights like this. Opening up this experience is definitely part of the Virgin Galactic mission and vision.”

Mayers fully understands the gravity (no pun intended) of this opportunity. Making history as the youngest person to make the journey as well as one half of the first mother-daughter pair and one of the first Antiguans to go to space is a big deal for Mayer, but it’s also very humbling. For such a long time, space travel seemed like nothing but a childhood dream for her, but now, it’s Mayer’s reality — even if it was just for 90 minutes. This Private Astronaut Mission is one of the many important first steps in her own path to becoming an astrobiologist and dedicating her research to learning if/how life will survive in space.

“I hope to be able to inspire other people to not put themselves in a box,” Mayers stressed. “The world already does that for so many of us. But I want people to know that, no matter who you are and no matter where you come from, you can do anything if you set your mind to it. There's nothing that can stop you.”

“I want people to be able to trust in themselves and trust in the universe to make the things that they want to happen happen, and for people to understand that these barriers that we put between ourselves are really nonexistent. They shouldn't be there,” she concluded. “Everyone should have the chance to do what they want to do. An equal chance.”