Amanda Nguyễn – The First Vietnamese-American Woman to Travel into Space. — Photo Blue Origin

HÀ NỘI — Amanda Nguyễn, a Vietnamese-born female astronaut will blast off into space aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft at 8:30am CDT / 13:30UTC, or 8:30pm Hà Nội time on April 14, from Van Horn, Texas, USA.

Amanda Nguyễn, who was born in 1991, is a Harvard graduate who interned at NASA in 2013 and later worked at the Harvard–Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics. She is the founder of Rise, a non-profit organisation advocating for the rights of sexual assault survivors across the United States.

Amanda is now set to become the first Vietnamese American woman to journey into space, carrying with her the pride of the global Vietnamese community. Sponsored by Space for Humanity, the flight shines a spotlight on Vietnamese heritage on the international stage.

In collaboration with Amanda Nguyễn, the Việt Nam Space Center (VNSC), under the Việt Nam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST), has provided 169 lotus seeds (Nelumbo nucifera) – a symbol of purity and resilience in Vietnamese culture – to accompany her on the journey beyond Earth. Selected from the Centre for Flower and Ornamentals Research and Development, under the Việt Nam Academy of Agricultural Sciences, these seeds will return after the mission to support research into how spaceflight affects plant growth, contributing to both botanical science and space exploration.

Blue Origin's New Shepard spacecraft. Photo VNSC

The journey of 169 lotus seeds — a flower that blossoms from the mud — stands as a powerful symbol of resilience and hope. In 2025, as Việt Nam and the United States reflect on 50 years since the end of the war and 30 years of renewed friendship, this mission serves as a meaningful bridge between the two nations. Its significance is further deepened by the involvement of the Việt Nam Space Center (VNSC), with the name 'lotus' echoing LOTUSat-1, Việt Nam's first radar satellite – a testament to the nation’s growing aspirations in the era of space exploration.

Joining Amanda on mission NS-31 are five other women: Aisha Bowe, former aerospace engineer of Bahamian-American heritage, renowned journalist Gayle King, singer and philanthropist Katy Perry, film producer Kerianne Flynn and Lauren Sánchez, helicopter pilot and journalist. This marks the first all-female crew since Valentina Tereshkova’s historic flight in 1963 — a powerful symbol of progress towards gender equality in the field of space exploration.

This mission is carried out aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard – founded by Jeff Bezos – renowned for its reusability and its ability to carry humans beyond the Kármán line, the recognised boundary of space 100km above sea level.

Each astronaut has a seat by the window in the pressurised crew cabin. The cabin seats six and is climate-controlled for comfort. Photo Blue Origin.

The suborbital flight is expected to last around 11 minutes, during which time the crew experiences a few moments of weightlessness at a peak altitude of approximately 105 km. From this vantage point, they witness the curvature of the Earth and the vast darkness of space before safely parachuting back down to West Texas. Powered by the advanced BE-3 engine, fuelled by liquid oxygen and hydrogen, New Shepard stands not only as a symbol of cutting-edge technology but also as a stepping stone toward the future of commercial space travel.

Those interested can follow live updates and images of the NS-31 flight on Blue Origin's official website. — VNS