Amanda Nguyen goes to space on Blue Origin and pleads for women in stem

“Accidental activist” is the way Amanda Nguyen describes herself. She did not decide to testify before the Congress or to start a non -profit organization. No, his childhood dream was to fly among the stars as an astronaut. “It is out of necessity that I decided to write my rights”, explains Nguyen, “because no one else would.”

Nguyen is best known for his work as a warrior of social justice. Although she studied national security and astrophysics during her stay as the first cycle at Harvard, after her rape during her last semester, she put her passions aside to focus on work as a militant for survivors of sexual assault. “”I had a conversation with (astronaut of NASA) Leland Melvin, one of my mentors, and I told him what had happened. I told him I was trying to decide between my dreams or my justice, “recalls Nguyen.” And he shared with me that he was also a survivor. And he said to me, “Space is going to be there. It’s going to be there long after your departure. Go fight for our rights. »»

In 2016, thanks to the efforts of Nguyen, the American Congress adopted the law of survivors on the law of survivors, ensuring the right to have a preserved rape kit and to be informed of the medico-legal results, among others; Six years later, the United Nations adopted a similar resolution, guaranteeing the rights of victims of violence based on sex everywhere. After these major achievements (to settle them slightly), Nguyen said: “I decided that I had kept my promise to other survivors. I wanted to honor the person I was before I was injured.”

This meant returning to his work in science. This month, the 33-year-old man will fly beyond the Kármán line-100 kilometers above sea level, the internationally recognized border for space. Nguyen will be part of the Blue Origin Mission NS-31 mission, the first entirely female flight team from the JEFF Bezos space company. She will be the first Vietnamese woman to go to space.

Although the trip was painted by some as a simple advertising, Nguyen has good faith – and knows that there is a lasting value in its involvement: simply by being part of this mission, it raises the profile of women in STEM. But its intention is not to check a box on a list of buckets. “I do this because I want to exploit scientific missions,” explains Nguyen. “Although this flight is a dream come true for me and that I will make the story in so many different ways, my dream is not to fly alone in itself. It is to be able to do science with.” Nguyen will conduct two scientific experiences during his mission the same day in space. The first is to follow how a specific type of brassica seeds, a cultivated seed for women in Southeast Asia, reacts to different parts of the flight. The second concerns the health of women. “The greatest involvement is on the dressing of wounds, but I am specifically interested in its application to menstruation,” explains Nguyen about his work testing the ability of various inorganic mediums to absorb liquid during space trips. She underlines: “menstruation was a reason why NASA quoted to refuse women to become astronauts at the beginning.”

This last experience is a continuation of the research that Nguyen has conducted as a scientific-astronaut candidate at the International Institute of Aeronautical Sciences. The partially physical and partial bootcamp included high force G tests, the removal of a hyperbaric chamber and the “relearning trigonometry without calculating”. Nguyen graduated at the top of his class.

Nguyen’s journey is non -profit space for humanity. Their objective is to help send to people of space who, according to them, would come back with the effect of overview, which Nguyen describes as “an overwhelming experience of fear, but also of terror, that many astronauts pass when they see the earth for the first time.

Nguyen is already doing this work, even before leaving our planet. In February, she co-organized the 10th Annual International Women of the United Nations, in partnership with the Cosmetics Society Elf Beauty, which included the very first gathering of entirely female astronauts. “I wanted to bring everyone together to show the community, because it is very insulating,” explains Nguyen. His goal was to underline both the pioneer experiences of women and their joy. “I think that often there is this dichotomy: you know, if you are a scientist, you have to look in a certain way” – she describes how, during a role at the start of her career at NASA, she received instructions on what to be taken to be taken seriously – “And that is why it was really a dream of being able to be able to be with the Elf, because I felt all the parts of my human,

Nguyen wore a daring red lipstick to testify in front of the Congress and again to the United Nations. She plans to do the same on the Blue Origin rocket. “I went to these sacred spaces with these forces which told me to shrink myself; I felt the need to be invisible to survive. Then, I realized, in fact, I deserve to exist, and I deserve to present myself in the way that makes me feel the most empowered, and which manifests itself authentically like me, I Like, “she said.

Research shows that adolescent girls are starting to lose interest in science because of the hypotheses of what a person in STEM looks like. Worse still, Nguyen shares a recent study by the Georgia State University, which found that women in the STEM fields experience up to three times more violence based on the sexes than those in non-ready areas. “It really limits the potential of our humanity to grow,” she says. The article documents the stories of “teachers, researchers, students and how sexual harassment and sexist violence affect them, and how, in itself, is a major turning point for their experiences within STEM”, explains Nguyen. These are not only faceless statistics. “Obviously, in my situation, it actually dissuaded me for a decade of being on the ground.”

Now that she has returned to her first love, Nguyen does her mission greater than herself. “I believe that our science reflects the best of humanity. … And for us to have the best results, it would be preferable that 50% of the population can also participate in these STEM domains.”

The ultimate goal? Universal jurisdiction. “When I go to conferences – even just existing – I heard so many stories of women who have experienced gender -based violence. And many of these conferences oblige researchers and scientists to cross, not only state lines, but also national lines. ” Currently, countries do not have to coordinate with each other when a crime occurs between citizens of different sovereigns. “Now that we have established (the principles of United Nations resolution), establishing a standard for survivors of sexual violence, people must be able to access this justice.” Other crimes against humanity, such as torture, are subject to a universal jurisdiction; No sexual violence.

While Nguyen will never stop fighting for the survivors, she seeks to pass the torch. “”In fact, I think that a sign of a successful movement is that other people can take him from who is the founder, ”she says. Last month, Nguyen published his memoirs Save fiveA mixture of gender transfer of traditional memories, a practical guide to directing a movement and a magical realism. “I wrote it because when I passed the United Nations General Assembly (resolution), I said to myself, It’s time. It’s time to write all of this so that other people can know how to adopt laws. Because I want to go to space. “”