A University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill student is set to make history as part of a six-person crew flying on a Blue Origin mission.
Karsen Kitchen is poised to become the youngest woman ever to cross the Kármán line.
The Blue Origin program has flown 37 people above the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary that separates the Earth’s atmosphere and outer space.
The flight, New Shepard (NS)-26, is scheduled to lift off Thursday morning from Launch Site One in west Texas.
Karsen’s father, UNC professor Jim Kitchen, went to space with Blue Origin in 2022.
Karsen is majoring in Communications and Astronomy at UNC.
She is pursuing a career in the space industry.
In 2024, Kitchen founded Orbitelle, an initiative to encourage women to pursue careers in the space industry.
Karsen has researched radio astronomy at the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia and worked at UNC’s Morehead Planetarium.
The Durham Academy graduate has experienced weightlessness during a Zero-Gravity flight, and is currently in training for her scuba diving license.
As one of six members of the crew on a Blue Origin mission, a student from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is about to make history.
It looks like Karsen Kitchen is going to be the youngest woman to ever cross the Kármán line.
The Kármán line, the internationally acknowledged demarcation between Earth’s atmosphere and space, has been crossed by 37 individuals as part of the Blue Origin program.
Thursday morning is when the New Shepard (NS)-26 flight is expected to take off from Launch Site One in west Texas. The launch can be viewed here. Launch window opening time is 9 a.m. me. ET.
It runs in the family to venture into the great unknown. In 2022, Karsen’s father, Jim Kitchen, a professor at UNC, traveled to space aboard Blue Origin.
Karsen is a UNC student majoring in Astronomy and Communications. Her goal is to work in the space industry.
Kitchen established Orbitelle in 2024 as a project to inspire women to work in the space sector. Karsen has worked at UNC’s Morehead Planetarium and conducted radio astronomy research at West Virginia’s Green Bank Observatory. In addition to being in training for her scuba diving license, the Durham Academy alumna has experienced weightlessness during a Zero-Gravity flight.
The crew includes:.
