A MOTHER and daughter from Antigua have spoken of their  “amazing” experience after becoming the first women from the Caribbean to fly into space.

Anastasia Mayers, a philosophy and physics student at Aberdeen University and her mother Keisha Schahaff, a 46-year-old mother of two, and health and wellness coach from Antigua and Barbuda, won tickets to fly on the Virgin Galactic spacecraft into suborbital space in a competition that also raised funds for non-profit Space for Humanity.

Following yesterday’s flight they became the first mother-daughter duo to fly to space together, and the first women from the Caribbean, joining a handful of Black women who have travelled into space.

Yesterday’s flight, the Galactic 02, was Virgin Galactic’s seventh and only its second commercial spaceflight.

And according to Virgin Galactic, Anastasia became the youngest person to have travelled into space by just a matter of weeks.

At the peak of their flight, the group were able to see the curvature of the Earth and the black of space as they travelled over 55 miles above the Earth during a 60-minute journey.  

Amazing

At a press conference that followed, Schahaff said:  “Looking at Earth was the most amazing” adding that the flight into space was so comfortable she would love to do it again.

Speaking about the experience she said: “When I was two years old, just looking up to the skies, I thought, ‘How can I get there?’ But, being from the Caribbean, I didn’t see how something like this would be possible.

“The fact that I am here, the first to travel to space from Antigua, shows that space really is becoming more accessible. I know I will be changed by my experience, and I hope I will be able to share that energy and inspire the people around me – in my role as a life coach, a mother, and an ambassador for our beautiful planet.”

Schahaf and Mayers were joined on the flight by Jon Goodwin, a former British Olympic canoeist. Goodwin, who is living with Parkinson’s disease.

The Newcastle-under-Lyme native became Virgin Galactic’s first paying customer after buying a ticket for a space flight in 2005 for $250,000 (then £191,000). He became only the second person with Parkinson’s disease to go to space.

Schahaff was on her way to the UK on a Virgin Atlantic flight to arrange her daughter’s visa when she entered the competition to win a ticket to fly into space on the Virgin Galactic.

Anastatia says it was her decision to travel from the Caribbean to study in Scotland that led to the opportunity to go space.

The fact that I am here, the first to travel to space from Antigua, shows that space really is becoming more accessible

Keisha Schahaff, Virgin Galactic crew member

Speaking ahead of the flight she said: “My mom read about the competition back in 2021 while we were on our way to another Caribbean Island to get my visa for studying at the University of Aberdeen.

“We had to take an insane detour. So instead of a one-hour flight, it was 16 hours through London and then back down into the Caribbean.

Sceptical

“It was on that flight my mom randomly entered this competition, which I had no clue about until I was here in Scotland. When she told me she had entered, I was very sceptical about it. I thought she was joking. But the one thing I did make sure was if she was going into space, it was going to be with me.”

Anastatia forgot about the competition and focused on finding her feet in her new home of Aberdeen. However a call from her mum marked the start of a new adventure.

“That day I was going about as normal and I got a FaceTime call from my mom. I thought she was just checking in to see how I was doing because it was the first time I had been living in another country independently from her.

“That was when she told me we won the trip to space. I remember saying ‘What are you talking about? You’ve finally lost it’. I was in utter shock. I wasn’t able to piece my words together. I was in disbelief. I’m still processing the fact we get to do this.”

Anastasia continued: “I think this whole experience has taught me to believe in myself and have faith in my abilities as well as my luck and the universe itself. I think it’s teaching me to trust the process and the biggest thing is to not put yourself down.”

Sir Richard Branson, the British billionaire who founded Virgin Galactic, hailed his firm’s private passengers as “incredible” in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter).

Access

Calling them “commercial astronauts 011, 012 and 013” he said: “Welcome to the club!”

The Virgin Galactic VSS Unity spacecraft climbed to the edge of space before gliding back down to Earth.

Michael Colglazier, CEO OF Virgin Galactic said: “This flight highlights two of Virgin Galactic’s core aspirations – increasing access to space and inspiring people around the world. Each of these astronauts are role models and beacons of inspiration in their communities. Watching Keisha, Ana and Jon embark on this transformative experience helps demonstrate that space is now opening to a broader and more diverse population across the globe.”