Amanda Ngoc Nguyen, a 33-year-old scientist and civil rights activist, has just made history as the first Vietnamese and Southeast Asian woman to fly into space.
In a deeply emotional moment as Blue Origin’s New Shepard capsule reached the edge of space, Amanda greeted her ancestral homeland with a simple yet powerful phrase: “Xin chào Việt Nam,” or “Hello, Vietnam.”
The heartfelt greeting quickly went viral, touching millions and becoming a symbol of pride for Vietnamese communities around the world.
The 11-minute suborbital flight marked not only a major milestone in Amanda’s personal journey but also a historic moment in space exploration.
Together with five other women—including pop star Katy Perry, CBS host Gayle King, and Lauren Sánchez, the fiancée of Jeff Bezos—Amanda took part in the first all-female crewed space mission in over six decades. The last comparable mission occurred in 1963, when Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to orbit Earth.
Fought for Justice—Now Reached Space
Amanda’s extraordinary achievement didn’t happen overnight. Behind her joyful smile as she stepped out of the capsule and raised her fist to the sky lies a long journey rooted in the fight for social justice.
In 2013, Amanda was a survivor of sexual assault. Faced with a legal system that failed to protect survivors, she was driven to advocate for their rights through legislation.
She founded Rise, a now-global nonprofit organization, and championed the creation of the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Rights Act, which was passed nationally in the United States in 2016 and has impacted more than 25 million people.
For nearly a decade, Amanda "traded her telescope for a pen," as she put it, to ensure that the rights of sexual assault survivors were recognized and protected by law.
Her tireless advocacy earned her a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 and the title of TIME Woman of the Year in 2022.
Her fight also extended to defending the Asian American and Pacific Islander community, particularly during the surge of anti-Asian violence at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chasing a Childhood Dream
Amanda is now reigniting her childhood dream of exploring space. Through the Citizen Astronaut Program by Space for Humanity, she became an Overview Ambassador—a symbolic title given to everyday citizens who travel to space in hopes of gaining a broader perspective to help address global challenges.
As part of her mission, Amanda also carried a scientific payload: 169 lotus seeds from Vietnam, which will be studied to understand how space travel affects plant growth. She also brought along prototypes developed by various MIT laboratories focused on advancing women’s health technology in space.
A Flight Full of Meaning
Beyond its scientific and symbolic milestones, the all-women crew of this mission brought their own deeply personal meanings to space. Katy Perry, for instance, brought a daisy flower as a symbol of resilience for her daughter, while Lauren Sánchez included a character from her children’s book—both gestures speaking of strength, empathy, and dreams that transcend Earth’s atmosphere.
Today, Amanda Nguyen is recognized not only as a civil rights activist but also as a symbol of courage for Asian women breaking through traditional barriers. She has become a beacon of inspiration for the younger generation, particularly Vietnamese and Southeast Asian girls, showing them that their place, too, can be among the stars.
“I am Vietnamese. I’m flying to space so that young Vietnamese women can see themselves among the stars,” she said in a video posted by the U.S. Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City.
“I might be the first, but I will not be the last.”
