By Elenne Castro
Katya Echazarreta will be the first Mexican-born woman to travel into space with Blue Origin.
She will be part of the company’s fifth manned flight on the Shepard NS-21 mission. The Brazilian Victor Correa Hespanha will also participate in the trip.
According to the official statement of the company created by Jeff Bezos, Katya Echazarreta was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, and her mission in this trip is to provide representation to women and minorities interested in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) field. In addition, she is a co-host of the YouTube series ‘Netflix IRL’ and Electric Kat’, on the CBS show ‘Mission Unstoppable’.
She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering at Johns Hopkins University and earned her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from UCLA in 2019.
After graduating, he spent nearly four years at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, working on five missions, including the Perseverance Rover and Europa Clipper.
According to Blue Origin’s statement, «Katya’s seat is sponsored by Space for Humanity, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to expand access to space for humanity.»
Blue Origin has already transported 20 people above the Kármán line, which marks the beginning of commercial and tourist exploration of space according to the International Convention, at an altitude of 100 kilometers. Katya Echazarreta from Guadalajara will go down in history as one of the women who made it possible.
The Mexican will experience the Perspective Effect, that is, a cognitive change of consciousness, together with Correa Hespanha, 28 years old, the second Brazilian to go into space. A childhood dream that he will fulfill with the help of Crypto Space Agency, an alliance that seeks to ally the technology of the space industry with the financial power of cryptomarkets to drive innovation.
The new mission, Shepard NS-21, will also be comprised of investor Evan Dick, pilot and president of Action Aviation, Hamish Harding, adventurer and co-founder of Dream Variation Ventures, Jaison Robinson, and explorer and co-founder of private equity firm Insight Equity, Victor Vescovo.
Publication with authorization from Mexico Indusrty. Follow the link to read more.
