The 21-year-old student became the youngest woman to cross the Karman line and travel into space. Photos and videos

Karsen Kitchen, a 21-year-old American student, became the youngest woman to cross the Karman line and travel into space. A new record was set by the company of American billionaire and founder of the online store Amazon.com Jeff Bezos – Blue Origin.

This mission, called NS-26, sent six people to suborbital space and back on August 29 from the Blue Origin spaceport in West Texas. The spacecraft reached a maximum altitude of 104 kilometers above ground level, Space.com reports.

Who is Karsen Kitchen

One of the space mission participants was a young student from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), Karsen Kitchen, who is only 21 years old. According to Blue Origin, Kitchen is the youngest woman to ever cross the Karman Line, which is 100 km above sea level, which is conventionally taken as the boundary between the Earth's atmosphere and space.

It is known that Karsen's getting on board the spacecraft was no accident. The girl is an intern at Blue Origin. Kitchen's dad, Jim, a business professor at the University of North Carolina, flew on the company's NS-20 mission in March 2022.

Blue Origin can also boast of another record. On July 20, 2021, the company delivered the youngest person beyond the Karman line, namely 18-year-old Dutch student Oliver Demen.

It's worth noting that the Karman Line is not the only recognized marker of space demarcation. After all, NASA and the US military award astronaut wings to anyone who has risen to an altitude of 80 km above the Earth's surface.

And by this measure, Karsen Kitchen is not the youngest woman to reach space. Eighteen-year-old Anastacia Myers and her crewmates reached a maximum altitude of 88.5 km during a Virgin Galactic flight in August 2023.

Interestingly, Virgin Galactic, which is Blue Origin's main competitor in the suborbital tourism industry, charges $600,000 for the opportunity to travel in space. But Blue Origin does not disclose ticket prices.

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