Aisha Bowes statement after all of the negative media coverage.
“As an aerospace engineer, former NASA rocket scientist, and the first Bahamian to fly to space, I care deeply about science, sustainability, and what this mission actually represented.
For ya’ll who think it was short, traveling at 2,300 MPH makes you feel a way 😉 So let’s break it down:
1. Purpose of the mission:
Yes, Blue Origin’s New Shepard is suborbital—but this mission made history in more ways than one. I served as the science payload operator for the first-ever HBCU-led research project to fly aboard New Shepard, developed in partnership with Winston-Salem State University (WSSU). The mission also marked a first for BioServe Space Technologies, whose Fluid Processing Apparatus (FPA) hardware was flown to qualify it for future use in orbit.
In addition to advancing plant biology research by examining how crops like chickpeas and sweet potatoes grow in microgravity to support future food security. I also wore a BioButton as part of a NASA-funded study led by TRISH (Translational Research Institute for Space Health) to better understand how women’s bodies respond to spaceflight. This work is essential for future deep space exploration, where gender-specific data is still significantly lacking. Not tourism. Research.
2. Climate impact:
Rockets do have an environmental cost just like cargo ships, long-haul flights, and even your average data center. But this wasn’t just about one flight. The long game is reusability. New Shepard is fully reusable, and part of developing cleaner, more sustainable launch vehicles something we need if we want to monitor climate, deliver satellites, or support Earth-observation missions. And by the way, many climate-monitoring tools rely on space infrastructure.
3. The role of private people:
I left NASA to found two companies focused on education and equity. Through LINGO, we’ve brought STEM access to over 10,000 students worldwide, including in The Bahamas. The goal isn’t just to go to space it’s to bring what we learn back home.
4. Private vs. public investment:
Let’s not pretend private sector innovation doesn’t play a role in societal advancement. Commercial spaceflight delivers satellites for disaster tracking, global internet, GPS and agriculture monitoring to name a few benefits. It’s space for the benefit of Earth.
5. Marketing and representation:
Representation isn’t just about optics it’s about access. As a Black woman and first-generation Bahamian-American, I didn’t grow up thinking space was for me. This mission sent a powerful message: that science isn’t reserved for the elite few. It belongs to all of us. And if one young girl saw me and thought maybe I could study engineering, I consider that a mission success.
Yes, be critical. Always. But don’t dismiss the science, the significance, or the opportunity to inspire and inform 🙏🏽🚀💙”
Her statement that this mission sent a powerful statement that science isn’t reserved for the elite few is exactly what’s up for debate here. Blue Origin was created by the elite, for the elite.
And what an interesting statement to make when the Trump administration is gutting scientific research, made possible by checks from billionaires like Bezos. The disconnect is astounding. The impact will harm women in ways we have yet to grasp.
Arri, are you doing OK? Given the sheer number of things to be concerned about in the world today, I find it interesting that you'd give so much energy to this post. I suppose I've hit a nerve, and what an opportunity to dig deeper into why the concept of marketplace feminism upsets you so much.
I get it--it challenges what we've been sold for so many years, and it upends the very way we move through the world. And that's why I wrote about it. Not to alienate your four-year-old (who, BTW, is not my target audience in my writing or my business), but to make us really think about the concept of progress--who experiences it, who benefits from it, and how it's defined.
Perhaps if this launch wasn't made possible by a man who union busts and funds an authoritarian regime (among other things), if it occurred during a time when our Constitutional rights weren't threatened by an oligarchy, when our neighbors weren't suffering because they're losing their jobs and can't afford the future they were promised and worry about their civil liberties, or when space travel is being positioned as an escape from the burning inferno of the Earth for the ultra rich (shall I go on?), then it might have landed differently. But timing is everything, and so is messaging, and this launch lacked both.
You don't have to like what I write; I know it's not for everyone. In fact, nowhere did I say that if you don't agree with me, you're any less of a human. I'm not really sure I'm the one doing the judging here. You are welcome to hit delete or unsubscribe, and I encourage you to turn your lengthy comments into your own posts and share your views of the world with your readers.
Aisha Bowes statement after all of the negative media coverage.
“As an aerospace engineer, former NASA rocket scientist, and the first Bahamian to fly to space, I care deeply about science, sustainability, and what this mission actually represented.
For ya’ll who think it was short, traveling at 2,300 MPH makes you feel a way 😉 So let’s break it down:
1. Purpose of the mission:
Yes, Blue Origin’s New Shepard is suborbital—but this mission made history in more ways than one. I served as the science payload operator for the first-ever HBCU-led research project to fly aboard New Shepard, developed in partnership with Winston-Salem State University (WSSU). The mission also marked a first for BioServe Space Technologies, whose Fluid Processing Apparatus (FPA) hardware was flown to qualify it for future use in orbit.
In addition to advancing plant biology research by examining how crops like chickpeas and sweet potatoes grow in microgravity to support future food security. I also wore a BioButton as part of a NASA-funded study led by TRISH (Translational Research Institute for Space Health) to better understand how women’s bodies respond to spaceflight. This work is essential for future deep space exploration, where gender-specific data is still significantly lacking. Not tourism. Research.
2. Climate impact:
Rockets do have an environmental cost just like cargo ships, long-haul flights, and even your average data center. But this wasn’t just about one flight. The long game is reusability. New Shepard is fully reusable, and part of developing cleaner, more sustainable launch vehicles something we need if we want to monitor climate, deliver satellites, or support Earth-observation missions. And by the way, many climate-monitoring tools rely on space infrastructure.
3. The role of private people:
I left NASA to found two companies focused on education and equity. Through LINGO, we’ve brought STEM access to over 10,000 students worldwide, including in The Bahamas. The goal isn’t just to go to space it’s to bring what we learn back home.
4. Private vs. public investment:
Let’s not pretend private sector innovation doesn’t play a role in societal advancement. Commercial spaceflight delivers satellites for disaster tracking, global internet, GPS and agriculture monitoring to name a few benefits. It’s space for the benefit of Earth.
5. Marketing and representation:
Representation isn’t just about optics it’s about access. As a Black woman and first-generation Bahamian-American, I didn’t grow up thinking space was for me. This mission sent a powerful message: that science isn’t reserved for the elite few. It belongs to all of us. And if one young girl saw me and thought maybe I could study engineering, I consider that a mission success.
Yes, be critical. Always. But don’t dismiss the science, the significance, or the opportunity to inspire and inform 🙏🏽🚀💙”
Her statement that this mission sent a powerful statement that science isn’t reserved for the elite few is exactly what’s up for debate here. Blue Origin was created by the elite, for the elite.
And what an interesting statement to make when the Trump administration is gutting scientific research, made possible by checks from billionaires like Bezos. The disconnect is astounding. The impact will harm women in ways we have yet to grasp.
Arri, are you doing OK? Given the sheer number of things to be concerned about in the world today, I find it interesting that you'd give so much energy to this post. I suppose I've hit a nerve, and what an opportunity to dig deeper into why the concept of marketplace feminism upsets you so much.
I get it--it challenges what we've been sold for so many years, and it upends the very way we move through the world. And that's why I wrote about it. Not to alienate your four-year-old (who, BTW, is not my target audience in my writing or my business), but to make us really think about the concept of progress--who experiences it, who benefits from it, and how it's defined.
Perhaps if this launch wasn't made possible by a man who union busts and funds an authoritarian regime (among other things), if it occurred during a time when our Constitutional rights weren't threatened by an oligarchy, when our neighbors weren't suffering because they're losing their jobs and can't afford the future they were promised and worry about their civil liberties, or when space travel is being positioned as an escape from the burning inferno of the Earth for the ultra rich (shall I go on?), then it might have landed differently. But timing is everything, and so is messaging, and this launch lacked both.
You don't have to like what I write; I know it's not for everyone. In fact, nowhere did I say that if you don't agree with me, you're any less of a human. I'm not really sure I'm the one doing the judging here. You are welcome to hit delete or unsubscribe, and I encourage you to turn your lengthy comments into your own posts and share your views of the world with your readers.