Astronaut Says Depression Followed Blue Origin Flight
This image provided by Blue Origin shows, first row, seated, from left: Lauren Sanchez and Kerianne Flynn and standing in back from left: Amanda Nguyen, Katy Perry, Gayle King and Aisha Bowe in West Texas. (Blue Origin via AP)
Amanda Nguyen says her very public journey to the edge of space was followed by a plunge she never expected. The 34-year-old Vietnamese American scientist and civil rights advocate has revealed that she fell into a deep depression amid what she describes as a “tsunami of harassment” after her Blue Origin flight in April, according to the BBC.
Nguyen was part of Blue Origin’s first all-female crew on an 11-minute flight from Texas, which also included pop star Katy Perry, journalist Gayle King, film producer Kerianne Flynn, former NASA scientist Aisha Bowe, and Lauren Sanchez, the media executive who married Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos in June.
The mission, launched on the fully automated New Shepard rocket, drew criticism over its cost and environmental impact. Nguyen says much of the backlash quickly became personal, calling it “an avalanche of misogyny.” In an Instagram post, she revealed that when King called to check on her after the flight, she admitted, “I told her my depression might last for years.” Nguyen said she stayed in Texas for a week and at one point couldn’t speak through her tears during a phone call with a senior Blue Origin staff member.
She described the media coverage and online reaction as “an onslaught no human brain has evolved to endure,” which overshadowed the meaning of the mission for her: years of training, her experiments on women’s health in microgravity, and the symbolic significance of flying as the daughter of Vietnamese boat refugees on the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.
Nguyen, known for her work supporting sexual assault survivors, has shared that she postponed her astronaut ambitions after being raped in college, instead focusing on legal reforms. She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019, according to the Guardian.
Eight months after the flight, Nguyen says “the fog of grief has started to lift.” She credited supporters who reached out, writing, “You all saved me,” and noted the positive outcomes of the mission, including increased attention to her research and new opportunities for global advocacy. “When Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon, bombs rained down on Vietnam,” she said. “This year, when my boat refugee family looked at the sky, instead of bombs they saw the first Vietnamese woman in space.” Meanwhile, Katy Perry joked that the experience made her feel like a “human pinata.”
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