- Former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe tells PEOPLE that the Blue Origin flight suits are “more than a fashion statement”
- The blue gradient suits were custom-made for the crew members Bowe, Gayle King, Lauren Sánchez, Katy Perry, Amanda Nguyen and Kerianne Flynn
- Designed by Monse, the suits represent “the future of space,” Bowe says
For former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, the flight suit designed for Blue Origin’s first all-female flight crew is three things: “It’s fashion, it’s form, it’s function.”
Courtesy of New York City-based luxury label Monse, the figure-hugging blue gradient suits were custom-made for crew members Gayle King, Lauren Sánchez, Katy Perry, bioastronautics research scientist Amanda Nguyen and film producer Kerianne Flynn for the Monday, April 14, mission to the edge of space.
“I know people are saying, ‘It’s just fashion,'” Bowe told PEOPLE following the 11-minute mission, which took off from Launch Site One in West Texas. “No, we went to space in the suit. It’s fashion, it’s form, it’s function. And I love it because now we’re seeing designers get into designing space suits.”
The scientist noted that she thinks traditional space suits need “some improvements when it comes to gender.”
“I had the opportunity to train with a NASA suit technician before this flight, and what I can tell you is that while those suits are impressive, they’re not necessarily custom to every body,” Bowe explained.
She added, “For us today, this is more than a fashion statement, it’s a nod to what I think will be the future of space where you have flexible, responsive fabrics and you have designers putting their take on what they think the future of space travel looks like.”
X ACCOUNT OF BLUE ORIGIN/AFP via Getty
In addition to her custom Monse suit (which she says she’s planning to give to the Museum of Flight in Seattle), Bowe brought another meaningful item with her to space.
“In my flight bag was the personal American flag from Apollo 12 astronaut Pete Conrad. [The] third man to walk on the moon,” she shared. “It came from the Museum of Flight from Seattle. And when it goes back to the museum, it is also going to have a ‘flown in space’ certificate from this mission.”
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Speaking with PEOPLE, Bowe also opened up about how her late father, who died in January, reacted to the news that she would be joining the historic Blue Origin mission.
“Before he left the Earth, I have a beautiful text message from him that says when he found out that I was flying, that all the people before him and all the people after me are proud of me,” said Bowe, who admits she wishes her father, who wanted to be an astronaut, would have seen her take flight.
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While in orbit, Bowe paid tribute to her family by holding up a Bahamas flag patch. She explained that it was a “powerful” way to “connect the past, the present, and the future space.”
“I nodded to this mission and the suborbital flight, which we all know Alan Shepard (the first American in space), but very few people know that New Shepard (Blue Origin’s rocket), which was modeled after Alan Shepard’s flight, is on the same path that eventually ended up in the Bahamas,” she said.
