An Aberdeen student who dreams of working for Nasa is preparing to boldly become the second-youngest person ever in space with Virgin Galactic.
Anastatia Mayers, 18, and her mother, Keisha Schahaff, won their tickets in a sweepstake that raised £1.7 million for non-profit group Space for Humanity.
Now the teen is getting ready to swap science lectures at Aberdeen University for a view of the world that very few have ever experienced on Virgin Galactic’s first space tourism flight with private passengers.
Who will join Anastatia Mayers on Virgin Galactic?
Miss Mayers, who is studying philosophy and physics student, will become the 13th astronaut with Virgin Galactic and the youngest since 18-year-old Oliver Daemen bought a ticket with Jeff Bezos-funded Blue Origin in 2021.
Miss Mayers was born and raised in Antigua and Barbuda.
Together, with her mother, they will become the first people from the Caribbean to go into space and the first mother-daughter duo to reach for the final frontier onboard VSS Unity.
Miss Mayers told Virgin Galactic that space “connects everyone”.
She added: “I want to be an astrobiologist and that seemed like it was impossible, but ideas are very powerful.”
In an interview with US-based People magazine after winning her ticket in 2021, Keisha Schahaff, who is an entrepreneur and health and wellness coach, explained her own and her daughter’s dreams of space had inspired the entry into the competition.
She said: “I entered the sweepstakes after I saw an ad when I was taking my daughter to school, but who would have thought that I’d actually win.
“My daughter is studying Stem and wants to work at Nasa, and I hope to share this experience with her because it would be an incredible dream come true for both of us, for our entire family.”
The mother and daughter are due to blast off on Virgin Galactic’s seventh spaceflight with a flight window opening on August 10.
They will be joined by a third private passenger, Jon Goodwin from Newcastle.
The 80-year-old for Team GB in canoeing in the 1972 Olympics in Munich.
He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2014 and will become the second person in space with the condition as well as the first former Olympian.
The trio will be in safe hands with the flights being under the guidance of Highland-native Dave Mackay, who was the first Scot in space and is chief pilot of Virgin Galactic.
How much does it cost to fly with Virgin Galactic?
If you’re thinking of following Miss Mayers into space with Virgin Galactic, it does come with a cost.
Aspiring astronauts first need to put down an initial deposit of $150,000 (£115,000), before settling a further balance of $300,000 (£230,000).
Despite the hefty price tag, flights last less than two hours with the crew experiencing about five minutes of weightlessness.
The flights take off from New Mexico in the US with the spacecraft launched from beneath a carrier plane, before separating for the final ascent into space.