Karsen Kitchen walks through Morehead Planetarium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Story by Erik Haynes
Photo by Madeline Nguyen
LEAD: Space may be the final frontier… but for one college student… it’s just the beginning of her mission to alter the landscape of the space industry. Erik Haynes has the story…
TRT: 2:35
TRACK 1: Fewer than 700 people have journeyed to space, and fewer than 100 OF THOSE are women. Karsen Kitchen joined this elite group recently, becoming the youngest woman… at 21 years old…. to cross the Karman Line on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket..
Karsen Kitchen SOT 1: “It was a really long and tiring experience. But I wouldn’t change a thing and I had no negative emotion. There was panic for sure.
NAT POP: *Karsen Hyperventilating*
Karsen Kitchen SOT 1: But, you know, I really would relive any moment of it. It was just the best experience that I will ever have in my entire life.”
NATS: “This is incredible”
TRACK 2: Kitchen’s friend Katie Ormand witnessed the launch
NAT POP: *Rocket blasting off*
TRACK 2: And is still in awe of this historic moment.
Katie Ormand SOT 2: “I just am overcome with such emotion, not only just because this is such an exciting opportunity and the fact that Carson did make history, but since I met her, this was something that she could have only dreamed.”
Standup: But Kitchen’s dream disappeared after negative experiences in her freshman astronomy classes here at UNC-Chapel Hill, leading her to briefly consider humanitarian studies.
Karsen Kitchen SOT 3: “A lot of the male figures that I know in the astronomy environment at UNC are not the most accepting people.”
NATS: “So these actually go on top of my seat”
TRACK 4: Determined, Kitchen found her passion through an astrophotography course and internships at Green Bank Observatory and Morehead Planetarium.
Karsen Kitchen SOT 3: “I want this to be something that I dedicate my life to, because it is that important to me. And it’s that interesting to me. And I can see myself working in the space industry.”
TRACK 5: Kitchen’s perseverance has inspired those around her, including her friend Sophia Padovano, and other women aspiring to enter the space industry.
Sophia Padovano SOT 4: “It’s just really empowering. Like as a woman, to know that she’s the youngest female to go to, like go past that Karman line. She stands as, like, just such a pioneer for women in general and young women.”
TRACK 6: Last February, Kitchen founded Orbitelle, a company dedicated to helping young women launch their careers in astronomy.
Karsen Kitchen SOT 5: “Another really big goal of mine is to showcase to women that there are so many unique paths by interviewing different women, who work in different sectors of the space industry.”
NATS: “I met the program manager who works for the suborbital space program at Nasa”
TRACK 7: A seat aboard the New Shepard Rocket costs between $200,000 and $300,000, allowing Kitchen to experience about three minutes of weightlessness. I’m Erik Haynes reporting
TRT: 2:35
TAG: Graduating this Spring, Kitchen aims to work at NASA and continue inspiring women to reach for the stars.
