Featured Image Credit: Emily Calandrelli/YouTube
Topics: Space, Social Media, Science, Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin
Ellie Kemp
Topics: Space, Social Media, Science, Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin
A female astronaut who was targeted by sexist comments has uploaded a video of the moment she was launched into space for the first time at 2,300 mph.
Jeff Bezos’ company Blue Origin made history back in November when they sent US engineer Emily Calandrelli into space, making her 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 Shepard spacecraft. However, the milestone was overshadowed with negative comments and the company was forced to delete a post showing a video of the MIT engineer from its social media pages.
The clip showed her gazing out the aircraft's window, suspended upside down in weightlessness, as she gasped: "Oh my God, this is space."
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There were plenty comments congratulating Calandrelli, but it didn't take long for trolls to come out, disgustingly making ‘sexualized’ jokes about 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 admitted that the vile comments began to get to her and said she spent her flight home texting her ‘space sisters’ and crying in her seat.
She addressed the trolls on social media, writing: "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."
Now, Calandrelli has shared a 16-minute long video of her incredible feat to YouTube.
Titled 'My Blue Origin Flight to Space,' Calandrelli shares details from the run-up to the big day, to the moment she lands back on Earth.
This includes her astronaut training, and, from the historic day itself, Blue Origin's exhilarating take-off and incredible scenes as she looks down at Earth from 62 miles away.
This time, she was met with positive comments from emotional viewers.
"Watching this made me cry. You are a role model for so many. Please don’t listen to the trolls and keep reaching for the stars. You are inspiring people big and small," one person wrote.
A second agreed: "I am so happy for you, for reaching this milestone in life. Thank you for sharing this moment with us," as a third wrote: "I just showed this to my 5th grade class. They were blown away. Thank you for creating opportunities for classrooms to have great discussions about remarkable things."