First mother-daughter duo to go to space

LONDON: Anastatia Mayers and her mother Keisha Schahaff will be the first mother and daughter to go to space this Thursday.

The two will join Virgin Galactic 02, the second commercial spaceflight from Richard Branson’s exploration company. They will also be the first two people from the Caribbean to go to space.

Anastatia, who studies philosophy and physics at university, will be the second youngest astronaut to go to space at 18 years old.

Space knows no boundaries, and neither should the opportunity to explore it. Before earning her college diploma, Anastatia will fly on #Galactic02 and show how curiosity is the single most important qualification you need to be a part of the next era of space travel.

Join… pic.twitter.com/Aax34CbHUz

— Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) July 31, 2023

Her mother Keisha won the seats on the flight through a competition aiming to “send more diverse humans to space and change perspectives”.

The Antigua woman said in a video on the Virgin Galactic website that she was on a plane with her daughter to the UK when she saw an advertisement.

The ad said “Would you like to be an astronaut, would you like to go to space?”

“And I said ‘yes’,” she told viewers.

Ms Schahaff said she immediately chose her daughter as her mission companion when she found out she won.

“When I was asked the question, ‘I won two seats, who’s coming with me?’ Anna looked at me and she says, ‘Mum if anyone’s going to space with you it should be me,'” she said.

According to the BBC, the advertised price for a ride on the rocket plane has been as high as $450,000.

The Galactic 01 mission took place in June. It reached an altitude of 85 kilometres (279,000ft). The second mission will likely take the same path, scheduled on August 10 in New Mexico.

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