MOJAVE, CALIFORNIA: In an act of empowerment, the 90th woman in space and a fan of Taylor Swift, astronaut Kellie Gerardi took friendship bracelets beyond Earth: to space.
Gerardi, who exchanged friendship bracelets with her friends this year, claimed that the 'Eras Tour' and Taylor Swift served as inspiration. She even took one with her to space and intends to give it to the pop singer, per USA Today.
Astronaut Kellie Gerardi likes science and sparkle
Taking to her Instagram page, Kellie - one of the Swifties - revealed that she had the opportunity to speak to USA Today's reporter on Taylor Swift, Bryan West, discussing how she took friendship bracelets further than any other person on the planet.
During her two-hour mission, the Virgin Galactic astronaut carried out three experiments. As a mother of a six-year-old daughter, Kellie notes that it's important that girls, in particular, realize that it's possible to like science and sparkle.
She told FaceTime viewers, "I was the 90th woman ever to go to space and so this is still quite new terrain. But that was also another point of why I didn't want to tone it down."
Kellie explained: "I've always been really conscious of being a woman in STEM."
"All of the things that I love that are the essence of some of the girlhood things that I celebrate are compatible with space with science with STEM and I wanted her to know these things aren't mutually exclusive."
Regarding the pop star, Kellie remarked, "You're changing the world. We're in an era of women who are breaking barriers. She's always been an inspiration."
Fans celebrated Kellie's friendship bracelet launch in space
Online fans flocked to the comment section to rejoice and celebrate the astronaut-mother Kellie's 'space' version, with one commenting, "This is amazing. The year of kick a*s women!"
While one user added, "Love love love this! Woo hoo! Women unite!," another one exclaimed, "Omgggg so excited for you!"
Others commented, "Amazing! So exciting !!" and, "That's so cool!"
Kellie Gerardi lives in Jupiter with her husband and daughter Delta V
Kellie Gerardi is a professional in aerospace and technology, specializing in payloads, and communicating public science. She sees space as "humanity’s shared past and shared future."
As per Kellie's Virgin Galactic official bio, she resides in Jupiter, Florida, with her husband Steven Baumruk and their daughter Delta V Baumruk, whose name alludes to the dynamics of spacecraft flight delta-v.
Kellie was a Virgin Galactic flight attendant who worked at the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS) doing thermodynamic fluid studies and providing medical care.
Taking to her social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Kellie shared how her daughter Delta surprised her with a sweet note and said "my daughter slipped in my wrist checklist ahead of my suborbital science spaceflight."
Kellie wrote on X: "Thinking about the sweetest note my daughter slipped in my wrist checklist ahead of my suborbital science spaceflight, with strict instructions not to read until I was in space…."
"And just in perpetual awe that we managed to reach a time in history (and that I managed to reach a time in my life) where my child could write the sentence “I will be waving from Earth” I was waving back from space, Delta!"
Several X users praised the mother-daughter duo, calling "Delta for being the sweetest ground control"
One such user wrote, "You did so much up there in so little time! Would love some advice on how you planned or managed it, I’d be sooo overwhelmed! and kuddos to Delta for being the sweetest ground control!"
Another one praised the mother-daughter bonding and said, "This is so incredible. Thanks for sharing this personal story with all the world. Write On!"
"That's the sweetest thing I have read in a long time - Thanks for sharing even if it is dusty in this room!!" chimed in another one.
