Space tourism company Virgin Galactic recently announced that it will send researcher Kellie Gerardi, a well-known figure on TikTok, into space to conduct experiments for several minutes while weightless.
The 32-year-old bioastronautics researcher, who is affiliated with the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS), said she always believed the space tourism industry’s success could also “help open up opportunities for researchers like myself”, reports AFP.
Also Read: Out of the world. Virgin Galactic to send TikToker into space for research
For the unversed, Gerardi is not just an influencer but is also an aerospace, defence, and technology professional and a popular science communicator. She is a citizen-scientist and conducts bioastronautics research and spacesuit evaluation.
Currently, she is working as a Director of The Explorers Club along with serving on the Defense Council for the Truman National Security Project. She has also written a children’s picture book series titled ‘Not Needy Rocket Science: A Beginner’s Guide to Life in the Space Age’ and ‘Luna Muna’.
In the past, Gerardi has flown on several previous parabolic research flights, which are high-altitude aircraft flights that explore the low gravity environment of space. However, this will be her first voyage into space, and this transition marks the benefits Virgin Galactic hopes to be able to offer to researchers who have previously conducted their work in simulated zero-G conditions.
She has huge followers on Instagram and Tiktok and the latest opportunity is a dream come true for her.
“I think it would be very fitting for me to say that I would never have dreamed of it, but it just won’t come true. The reality is I’ve dreamed it . . . In detail every single day for the past decade. I’m so grateful for Richard Branson’s vision of democratizing access to space,” she told The Post.
