This article appears in the December edition of USA Lacrosse Magazine. Join our momentum.
Audrey Powers can’t believe that this, of all reasons, is how she ends up in USA Lacrosse Magazine.
Powers became a part of history Oct. 13 as the 71st woman to travel to space. The vice president of mission and flight operations for Blue Origin, she joined William Shatner on the New Shepard spacecraft for its 18th suborbital flight.
Powers, 45, graduated from Purdue University aka “the cradle of astronauts” in 1999 with a degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering. She always wanted to work for NASA, a dream job she got right out of college while helping to build the International Space Station.
Still, Powers wonders what might have happened had she played Division I lacrosse at Maryland or Princeton, two schools that recruited the goalie out of Mount de Sales (Md.). Her circuitous path to space included launching government satellites for Lockheed Martin and getting a law degree before she latched onto Blue Origin — and got her name added to the NS-18 flight manifest.
What is a suborbital flight?
We all have the idea of the space shuttle launching and the astronauts being up there orbiting Earth for 10 days. And then we have the space station that’s up there, orbiting the earth, and people will be up there for months or years. What we’re seeing now is a collection of companies reverting to suborbital spaceflight, which is the origin of the Mercury program with NASA — the very first spaceflight they did with Alan Shepard. We’re in microgravity for five minutes, then we come back down and land on our parachutes in the desert. It’s really an opportunity for people who want to experience space but aren’t invested in long-term spaceflight.
How did you get a seat on New Shepard 18?
We knew we were flying four astronauts on this flight. We had three identified. My very good friend who oversees the astronaut customer program came to me and said, “Jeff wants to offer you this.” Jeff Bezos, our founder, wanted to offer me this seat to represent the program that I’ve supported for so long. I was absolutely stunned. I’m the first employee to fly, representing everybody.
What does it feel like to fly in space?
When that engine starts and you’re sitting on the pad, it lights up the whole capsule orange, reflecting the fire that’s coming out from beneath you. We got to space quickly. The main engine cut off and then the capsule separated from the booster. Suddenly, you’re floating in zero gravity. And the view — you just see this layer of clouds. And then you see the blue line of the atmosphere. And then it’s just black. Something William Shatner talked about when we landed was the contrast between the black around you and this beautiful white and blue Earth beneath you. I hope I never forget those vivid colors.