An 18-year-old University of Aberdeen student and her mother will go to space this weekend after winning a spot on Virgin Galactic’s second commercial flight in a lottery.
Anastia Mayers and her mother Keisha Schahaff will be the first mother and daughter to go into space.
They will also be the first Caribbean residents to make the trip.
The pair will take off from New Mexico on Thursday.
Keisha was traveling to the UK to settle her daughter’s visa when she entered the competition. She was on a Virgin Atlantic flight from Antigua to London when suddenly an advertisement popped up.
“I filled out that lottery and then a few months later I got a letter saying you were one of the 20 finalists, then one of the five finalists, to be the winner. victory,” She said.
“Suddenly who walked into my yard? Richard Branson. The whole team burst into my house and said ‘you’re the winner, you’re going to space’.”
Anastia says it was her decision to travel from the Caribbean to Scotland to study that gave her the opportunity to go into space. “If I hadn’t chosen the University of Aberdeen at random and we didn’t have to go around very far to get our visas, we wouldn’t have gone into space,” she said.
“I feel like there’s a lot of things that have to happen at very specific times for us to end up here.”
The second-year physics and philosophy student says coming to Scotland to study was one of the biggest decisions of her life, but it has “led to some amazing things”.
The mission, dubbed Galactic 02, is the second commercial spaceflight performed by the American space company and the first to have paying customers onboard.
Advertised prices for a rocket plane ride have gone up to $450,000 (£350,000).
The Galactic 01 mission takes place in June. It reaches an altitude of 279,000 feet (85 km). It is believed that the second mission will try to take the same path.
Anastia, who will become the second youngest person to go into space, said she hopes she can use the experience to inspire others.
“That’s very important to me, both in Scotland and Antigua and anywhere else I have ties to,” she said.
“Hope everyone watch and support. “My intention is simply to break down any barriers we place on ourselves or the world imposes on us.
“I want people to know that no matter where you come from, who you are – whatever – your dream is your dream and you can make it come true, regardless of what others say. ”
Keisha adds:
“For me and my daughter, this is more than just a dream come true.
“He’s my baby, I love him with all my heart, and knowing that we both share the same goals, the same dreams, is amazing.”
The pair will be joined by former GB Olympic athlete Jon Goodwin from Newcastle. He will become the second person with Parkinson’s disease to go into space as well as the first Olympic athlete.