Mother-Daughter Duo Make History When They Travel To Space Together

Aug 09, 2023

Humans are natural explorers. It is innate in humans to always ask why, and that curiosity is the bedrock of research and development. Questions about outer space have continued to prick the minds of humans since they first looked up in the sky. Ancient humans noticed bodies in the sky moving relative to one another. Still, due to their lack of resources and technology, there was only little that they could do to satisfy their curiosity. 

However, with the advent of technology, humans have explored outer space, discovering planets, taking trips to the moon, and learning about the solar system. The advancement in space exploration began in 1957 when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) launched an artificial satellite to orbit Earth. Four years later, the first human in space, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, made an orbit around Earth for a duration of 180 minutes.

Subsequently, continuous progress was made in the field of space exploration, with man landing on the moon and research bodies sending out robots to collate data about other planets to be studied on Earth. Over six decades after the first human space experience, space travel is now more accessible to humans and is no longer limited to researchers/astronomers; it is now available for recreational purposes. 

In one such case of space tourism, a mother and her daughter from Antigua and Barbuda got the opportunity to live their dreams of connecting to space. On July 17, 2023, the mother, Keisha Schahaff, and daughter, Anastatia Mayers, an 18-year-old student from Aberdeen University, were announced in an Instagram post as part of the Galactic02 crew, who would join Virgin Galactic on their second private astronaut mission to space on Aug. 10, 2023.

On Aug. 10, 2023, Schahaff and Mayers would jet off to space with Virgin Galactic 02. The mother and daughter duo got the opportunity when Schahaff entered a competition en route to the UK. Per her interview with the BBC, Schahaff was on a Virgin Atlantic flight from Antigua to London when the advertisement popped up on her screen. Months after entering the competition, she emerged as the winner. 

"I filled out this sweepstake and then suddenly months later I'm getting correspondences saying that you're a top 20 finalist, then a top five finalist, to becoming a winner," Schahaff told the publication.

"Suddenly, who's walking into my yard? Richard Branson. The whole team just swarmed into my house saying 'you're the winner, you're going to space'."

Schahaff would not be going on this adventure alone; she would be connected to space with her daughter, Mayers, whose decision to study at Aberdeen University made them come across the opportunity. 

"I feel like a lot of things had to happen at very specific moments for us to end up here," Mayers told the BBC.

The trip to space would make the 18-year-old student of philosophy and physics the second youngest person to go to space. Not only was the experience important to Mayers, but she also hoped that it would be a source of inspiration for others.

"My intention is to just break any barriers that we set for ourselves or that the world sets for us,” Mayers said.

Not only did the mother and daughter duo get the experience of a lifetime, but they also set new records while at it. Schahaff and Mayers would be the first Caribbean people and the first mother-and-daughter duo to travel to space. 

What do you think of Keisha Schaff and Anastatia Mayers’s record-setting trip to space? Would you love to have an opportunity to travel to space? Let us know and — and be sure to pass this article on to friends and family members.