A Vietnamese-American astronaut has spoken out about her depression after being hit by a “tsunami of harassment” earlier this year following her first all-female space flight since 1963.
Amanda Nguyen, a 34-year-old scientist and civil rights activist, was part of Blue Origin's 11-minute spaceflight, which also included pop star Katy Perry and Lauren Sanchez, a journalist and wife of Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos.
The much-derided flight has been criticized by some due to its costs and environmental impact.
Speaking about the experience, Ms Nguyen, who became the first Vietnamese woman in space, said the backlash had meant her dreams were buried under an “avalanche of misogyny”.
In a statement posted on Instagram, Ms Nguyen said that when fellow crew member Gayle King, a US news anchor, called to check on her in the days after the flight, “I told her that my depression could last for years.”
She described the news coverage and social media reaction that followed the trip as “an onslaught that no human brain could withstand.”
“I didn’t leave Texas for a week, unable to get out of bed. A month later, when a senior Blue employee [Origin] called me, I had to hang up because I couldn’t talk through my tears.”
Ms. Nugen, who worked as a women's health scientist and conducted numerous experiments during Blue Origin's flight, said everything she “worked on – as a scientist, my research on women's health, the years I trained for this moment, the experiments I did in space, the history that was made as a Vietnamese woman astronaut, on the 50th anniversary of the US-Vietnamese War, as child of boat refugees, the promise I kept to myself, the survivor, was buried under an avalanche of misogyny.”
Ms. Nguyen is most recognized for her work advocating for the civil rights of victims of sexual assault.
She put her ambitions to become an astronaut on hold after being raped while at university and campaigning for years for justice, she told the Guardian in an interview in March.
Eight months after achieving her dream, she said the “fog of grief has begun to lift” and thanked those who followed her and sent her well wishes. “You all saved me,” she said.
She added that despite the backlash, “from [the flight]”, listing media attention for her research in women's health and opportunities to meet with world leaders due to her advocacy work.
Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket blasted off from Texas in April and took a crew of six women on an 11-minute flight that crossed the internationally recognized boundary of space.
The team also included aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe and film producer Keriann Flynn.
The New Shepard rocket does not require human intervention and is fully automated.
Blue Origin is a private space company founded in 2000 by Jeff Bezos, the billionaire entrepreneur who also founded Amazon.
