Blue Origin forced to delete female astronaut's footage of first time in space after controversy
Topics: Jeff Bezos, Science, Social Media, Space, Technology, Blue Origin
Gerrard Kaonga
Featured Image Credit: Instagram/@thespacegal
Topics: Jeff Bezos, Science, Social Media, Space, Technology, Blue Origin
A female astronaut has said she won’t back down to ‘small men’ after a video of her in space had to be taken down.
Jeff Bezos’ company Blue Origin were happy to make history when they sent American engineer Emily Calandrelli into space, marking her as the 100th woman to do so.
Calandrelli was among the six 'space tourists' who set out on the ninth human test flight for Blue Origin's New Shepherd spacecraft.
However, the company was forced to delete a social media post showing a video of the MIT engineer from its page due to comments.
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While there were plenty comments congratulating Calandrelli, it didn’t take long for the trolls to come out and for there to be very ‘sexualized’ replies making jokes and jabs at women in space.
In the video, Calandrelli compared the experience to motherhood, explaining: "I didn’t expect to see so much space, and I kept saying that’s our planet! That’s our planet! It was the same feeling I got when my kids were born, and I was like, 'That’s my baby!'"
Calandrelli even admitted that the comments began to get to her and she said that she spent her flight home texting her ‘space sisters’ and crying in her seat. A stewardess who recognized her offered her a kind word however and said ‘don’t let them dull your shine’.
Ultimately, Calandrelli had a defiant message to the trolls and haters.
She said: "I refuse to give much time to the small men on the internet. I feel experiences in my soul. It’s a trait I got from my father. We feel every emotion deeply and what a beautiful way that is to experience life. This joy is tattooed on my heart."
On the other Instagram posts celebrating the trip into space, the engineer received a barrage of support.
One person said: “So incredible. I love the perspective of a mom up there looking with such pride and love at our planet. Beautiful.
Another said: “Her talking about this moment had me in tears. Now seeing it with this photo, I'm sobbing.”
A third wrote: “Emily, I am so sorry to see your post regarding your video of your reaction having to be taken down because of the stupid men commenting. I shared it earlier today saying I would have had the exact reaction! I guarantee you inspired more people, especially women out there, then you can imagine.”
Another simply said: “What an inspiration.”