From Our Executive Director: Mission Success
As Space for Humanity realizes its mission to send its first citizen astronaut to space, we asked Executive Director, Rachel Lyons to sum up this moment in our history, in her own words.
Pictured left to right, Sangeet Kaur Sood, Katya Echazarreta , and Rachel Lyons celebrate on the landing pad.
Dear Space for Humanity Friends and Family,
I am so excited to share that as of June 4, 2022, Space for Humanity has sent our first Citizen Astronaut to space.
The Citizen Astronaut program—an idea born from our founder Dylan Taylor’s vision to share the Overview Effect with the world—has been years in the making. Since our founding in 2017, countless people and organizations have come together because they see Space for Humanity as a vessel to powerfully shape our future. I would like to take a moment to recognize those people: Our teammates, advisors, and donors both past and present.
To everyone who has helped along the way, this achievement was for you. Thank you for your belief in our mission and for seeing its potential. Thank you for your generosity in energy, time, brilliance, funds, and love. Thank you for who you are.
Images courtesy of Blue Origin
Just a few hours after her trip to space, Katya shared that as she looked back at Earth all she could think about was the people she loved. Nearly in tears, she said that Earth was “the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her life.” Adding that her experience proved the importance of Space for Humanity's mission. She is committed, more than ever, to building our Citizen Astronaut program and ensuring more people can share in the power of the overview effect.
Katya is working on her own impact program via her work, but even before that has launched, the reverberations of her spaceflight are astonishing. Hundreds of millions of people across the world have already been inspired by her story. She has been featured in the Associated Press, CNN, CNN en Español, CBS News, Business Insider, Telemundo, Univision, Forbes Mexico, Fox Weather, and countless others. Katya was even asked to meet the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico to celebrate her achievement.
Rachel surprises Katya that she has been selected as CA-1.
Katya meets with Mexican Foreign Secretary, Marcelo Ebrard.
She is generously sharing her inspiring story of hardship and her path to creating a life for herself to ignite hope and vision for those who may not see relatable figures in the media. She has demonstrated that anything is possible (Oh, and she over-trended news about Shakira in Latin America… but who’s counting! 😉). Katya will never be the same and it is already clear this experience will transform her path, her work, and her message for the rest of her life.
Space for Humanity has fulfilled its primary mission, but this is just the beginning. We will soon reopen our Humanity Mission applications to provide this opportunity to more people, each of whom will have their own story, their own vision, and their own community to impact.
I am incredibly grateful to each of you. Again, thank you.
To space, for Earth.
With Love,
Rachel Lyons
Executive Director
Space for Humanity
Continue to follow S4H and Katya’s journeys on our social media channels.