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Recently, in West Texas ( USA ), American billionaire Jeff Bezos' technology company Blue Origin conducted its 11th manned flight on the New Shepard spacecraft in the NS-31 mission with an all-female crew.

According to USA Today, this is the first all-female crewed flight since Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova made a three-day solo space flight in 1963, marking a major step forward for gender equality in the space industry. The six crew members on the NS-31 mission include: Lauren Sánchez, journalist, pilot and fiancee of billionaire Jeff Bezos; Katy Perry, famous pop singer; Gayle King, host of CBS Mornings; Aisha Bowe, aerospace engineer and former NASA employee; Kerianne Flynn, independent film producer and Amanda Nguyen, civil rights activist and founder of the nonprofit organization Rise.

Ambassador Nguyen Quoc Dung handed over the President's letter to Ms. Amanda Nguyen. Photo: The World and Vietnam Newspaper.

On this journey, Ms. Amanda Nguyen brought with her 169 lotus seeds (Nelumbo nucifera) - a symbol of purity and vitality in Vietnamese culture - provided by the Vietnam Space Center (VNSC) under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST). Selected from the Center for Research and Development of Flowers and Ornamental Plants under the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences, these lotus seeds will return from the mission to open up research on the influence of the universe on growth, contributing to the field of plant science and space exploration.

The New Shepard spacecraft's journey was a success, reaching an altitude of 100km in space and returning safely. The success of the journey also marked Amanda Nguyen as the first Vietnamese-American woman to fly into space. "When I fly, I really don't just think about myself, but actually bring my whole community with me. I may be the first, but I won't be the last," People Magazine quoted Amanda Nguyen as saying.

Amanda Nguyen was born in 1991 in California, USA. According to Blue Origin, she graduated from Harvard University and has done research at the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, NASA, and the International Space Science Institute. In 2014, she founded Rise, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting civil rights. Amanda Nguyen was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 and was honored by Time Magazine as Woman of the Year 2022. "As the first female astronaut from Vietnam and Southeast Asia, Amanda Nguyen's flight is a symbol of reconciliation between the US and Vietnam and highlights the role of science as a tool for peace," Blue Origin affirmed.

Witnessing the flight of the New Shepard spacecraft, Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Nguyen Quoc Dung presented a letter from President Luong Cuong to Ms. Amanda Nguyen. In the letter, President Luong Cuong expressed his joy and pride that for the first time a Vietnamese woman had flown into space, affirming the talent and intelligence of Vietnamese people in the US and around the world. President Luong Cuong emphasized that in 2025, Vietnam and the US will celebrate the 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations and in the overall bilateral relationship, Vietnam highly appreciates the positive contributions of the Vietnamese community in the US to the development and progress of the host country as well as promoting cooperation between the two countries. President Luong Cuong highly appreciated the cooperation between Ms. Amanda Nguyen and VNSC, helping to promote cooperation between the US and Vietnam.

Meanwhile, US Ambassador to Vietnam Marc Knapper held a meeting with Lieutenant General Pham Tuan - the first Vietnamese person to fly into space - and VNSC representatives to watch the moment when Amanda Nguyen became the first Vietnamese woman to fly into space. "On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the US and Vietnam, Amanda Nguyen's journey - bringing lotus seeds from Vietnam into orbit - is not only a milestone. It is also a symbol of the journey that the two countries have traveled and the future that the two countries are looking forward to together", the US Embassy in Vietnam affirmed.

HOANG VU

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Source: https://baodaknong.vn/xin-chao-viet-nam-249971.html