卡尔森厨房创造了太空历史

“对不起，这周我不能去上课了. 我要去太空了.”

That’s the message Karsen 厨房 ’25 struggled to deliver convincingly to her professors one week into the fall semester.

“A lot of them thought I was lying,基钦说。. “我的意思是，我也会的.”

What sounded like a far-fetched fib was actually a historic truth.

厨房, a 21-year-old senior majoring in communication studies and minoring in astronomy, became the youngest woman ever to cross the Kármán line — the point considered by many where outer space begins — on Aug. 作为…六名成员之一 蓝色起源的NS-26太空飞行任务.

The distinction is one she’s proud of, even if the experience still seems unbelievable at times.

(图片由Blue Origin提供)

The trip lasted just over 10 minutes but was a lifetime in the making for 厨房, who has always been fascinated by astronomy — from when she was a young girl to when she published an independent study in high school on the possible colonization of Mars.

“I’m going to confidently state the fact that I love space more than anyone in the entire world,”她说。. “There was a time, though, when I was on that rocket that I was like, ‘Am I doing this? 这真的发生在我身上吗?’”

尽管欲望一直存在, 厨房 never expected she’d have the opportunity to go to space, 尽管他的家族与蓝色起源公司有联系.

吉姆的厨房, her father and a professor of the practice at UNC 凯南-弗拉格勒商学院, went to space as part of a Blue Origin mission in 2022. She tagged along on the trip — until liftoff — and used it as an opportunity to network and learn about different careers in astronomy. She even made a pitch for joining a future mission.

“If you ever have the opportunity or want to send a young woman to space, 请给我回个电话,她记得自己说过.

2022年晚些时候，她接到了那个电话. She didn’t know when exactly, but she was space-bound. She completed zero-gravity trainings on her own before undergoing extensive training in the days before her mission, all while being sworn to secrecy by a nondisclosure agreement. “我感觉自己像是在《太阳城娱乐城》里.’ That took everything in me not to tell people I was going to space,”她说。.

Meanwhile, she embraced her studies at Carolina, especially astronomy. 厨房 conducted radio astronomy re太阳城娱乐城 at the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia and worked at Morehead Planetarium and Science Center. 她还创立了 Orbitelle, an initiative that encourages women to pursue careers in the space industry.

(图片由Blue Origin提供)

When 厨房 learned in late July that her time would come in August, 她经历了复杂的感情. Joy and excitement took over once she was in the air. Looking out the window and seeing Earth from a rare vantage point was the best part of it all, 她说.

“如果他们告诉我的话, ‘嘿, 明天我们要把你送上太空, and you’re never going to step back on the Earth,“我会收拾行李,基钦说。.

当然，还有回程. 厨房 has come back down to Earth literally, though maybe not figuratively.

“我还在消化这一切，”她说. “感觉不可思议。, and I’m filled with an immense sense of pride to represent such a dedicated, hardworking and imaginative group of young women.”