November 26th 2024.
Recently, a special moment captured by astronaut Emily Calandrelli during her trip to space was shared online. However, instead of being appreciated for the awe-inspiring experience, the video was met with derogatory and sexist comments. Emily, who is an astronaut and MIT engineer, went to space with Blue Origin, a space company launched by Jeff Bezos. The journey, which took place on November 22, was a dream come true for Emily, who described it as "a dream decades in the making."
In the video shared on social media, Emily can be seen gazing at Earth with tears in her eyes. She wrote in the caption, "Our planet. I left her, I saw her. This is a dream decades in the making." She goes on to compare the experience to holding her babies for the first time, saying, "The only thing I can compare it to was holding my babies for the first time after they were born. Like knowing someone for a long time, loving someone for a while, but seeing them with your own eyes for the very first time."
However, along with the thousands of likes and positive comments, the video also received sexist and objectifying remarks. As a result, Blue Origin eventually took down the video from all platforms. Emily later addressed the issue, saying, "Within 24 hours, I had hoards of men sexualise my reaction to viewing our planet. So much so, that the video is taken down across all platforms." She refused to feel embarrassed or ashamed of her genuine emotions, stating, "Because being a woman achieving something monumental means expecting men to try to humiliate her, to belittle her, to objectify her."
Despite the negative comments, Emily remains proud of her experience and refuses to let the actions of a few individuals take away from her wonderment and joy. She said, "I refuse to give much time to the small men on the internet." Emily is not only an astronaut but also hosts an educational show on Netflix. Her love for science and exploration is evident in her work and her genuine reaction to being in space.
Emily is not the only woman who has achieved the dream of going to space. In February, another woman, Lina Borozdina, made history by becoming one of the commercial astronauts on Virgin Galactic's spaceflight. Lina, a DNA chemist and breast cancer survivor, was inspired by stories of space as she grew up in the Soviet territory of Ukraine. She now lives in Las Vegas and was chosen to represent her home country on the spaceflight.
On Spaceport America, Lina was joined by three other private astronauts from the US, Austria, and the US, along with two crew members. The flight gave her the opportunity to share her message with the world, as she said, "remind the world" about her home country's fight. Lina's achievement, along with Emily's, serves as a reminder that women are just as capable and deserving of reaching for the stars.
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