![]() I've been working with IIAS on microgravity research, astronautics research. How did the Virgin Galactic opportunity come about? And, in her little mind, she thinks flying to space is just another thing that moms do. ![]() I get emotional when I think about what it means for her to watch her mommy become an astronaut, because it's meaningful. Kellie Gerardi: The most rewarding part is definitely telling our 3 year old daughter, Delta. Gerardi revealed her big space flight news on TikTok with a series of short videos, including one with Delta that notes fewer than 100 women have been in space, which has been viewed over 1.6 million times.Īfter Virgin Galactic and IIAS announced her flight in June, Gerardi spoke to CNBC Make It about her longtime dream of going to space and why her ultimate goal is to pave the way for more private citizens, like herself - especially women - to reach the stars.ĬNBC Make It: As a woman and mom, how cool has it been to share this exciting news with your daughter, Delta? She will conduct experiments on behalf of IIAS on the Virgin Galactic space flight, like donning the Astroskin Bio-monitor system, a "smart undergarment" that monitors astronauts' vital signs. Through IIAS, Gerardi has already been on multiple parabolic, or gravity-free, research flights, which simulate weightless space conditions for mere seconds at a time by flying at high altitudes. The institute's overarching mission is in promoting the democratization of space by training private citizens to go to space and conduct research there. IIAS is now funding Gerardi's spaceflight and her training. Gerardi completed an IIAS program called "Project PoSSUM," which offers courses (starting at $4,000 for a five-day in-person course, plus three weeks worth of webinars) that include lessons on topics such as bioastronautics and atmospheric studies, as well as training for space conditions in high altitude flights (where trainees experience weightlessness and even practice moving around in a spacesuit). In 2017, she joined the International Institute of Astronautical Sciences (IIAS) to study bioastronautics in her free time and be a part of an IIAS program that trains private citizens for spaceflight and space research. (The mission had been criticized by scientists for not being feasible, and the venture filed for bankruptcy in 2019.) In 2014, Gerardi also got to spend two months as a crewmember at the Mars Desert Research Station, a prototype laboratory in Utah that simulates conditions on Mars, after she was accepted to the Mars One mission, a venture that had planned to send the first people to Mars by 2025 but was eventually shut down. ![]() Gerardi called that her "aha moment" in which she realized that the commercial spaceflight industry was opening the door for a wider range of people to go to space. She decided to join after she met club president Richard Garriott, a millionaire video game developer who had previously paid $30 million to go to space for 12 days in 2008. From 2014 to 2020, Gerardi worked on business development for aerospace company Masten Space Systems.ĭuring that time, Gerardi joined the Explorer's Club, which "promotes the scientific exploration of land, sea, air, and space," according to its website, in 2012. In 2012, Gerardi started working as a media specialist with the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, an industry association that lobbies on behalf of commercial spaceflight companies. Gerardi says she never really considered being an astronaut herself until she started participating in public science campaigns over the past decade. She's also a popular science influencer who regularly posts space- and STEM-focused content on social media, including to her nearly half a million followers on TikTok. Gerard, who lives in Florida with her husband, Steven Baumruk, and their 3-year-old daughter, Delta, works on a customer support team at Peter Thiel's software company. Gerardi got one step closer to fulfilling a "life-long dream" of heading to space when Virgin Galactic announced in June that the 32-year-old Palantir Technologies project manager and amateur bioastronautics researcher will be on an as yet un-named upcoming search mission aboard one of the private space company's spacecraft.īut perhaps the most exciting part of the trip is that Gerardi is not a professional scientist, and she hopes her trip of a lifetime will help pave the way for a wider range of amateur space enthusiasts, with diverse backgrounds, to reach space.
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