The first few emotional moments Amanda stepped out of the vessel after traveling to space.
Amanda Nguyên Makes History as Member of First All-Female Space Crew
Stepping out of the white space capsule in a remote West Texas desert, Amanda Nguyễn (Iota Tau-Harvard) placed her palms open over her heart before punching them toward the sky with all her might while letting a joyful cry explode from her lungs. Beaming with a mixture of pride and gratitude, she carefully made her way down the capsule’s steps into the arms of her friends and family. She did it. After a more than 10-year hiatus to focus on civil rights advocacy, she finally accomplished her dream of flying to outer space. While an undergraduate student at Harvard University and member of Alpha Phi’s Iota Tau Chapter pursuing a promising career in astrophysics, Amanda had plans to take her talents to NASA. She had, after all, worked on NASA’s last space shuttle mission at the time and helped develop its Kepler exoplanet- hunting space telescope. All of her hard work set her on track for her to achieve her dreams of becoming an astronaut.
While attempting to heal from this traumatic assault, Amanda became aware of serious lapses in the American justice system designed to support survivors so they can press charges against their attackers. And she could not turn away or move forward with her life without doing something about it. Caught at the crossroads of either continuing along a path that would lead her to her scientific dreams come true or pivoting to advocate for the rights of sexual assault survivors, Amanda chose to fight. This decision ultimately led her to pass the Sexual Assault Survivor’s Bill of Rights Act, which entitles survivors like her to free medical exams, requires that forensic evidence be preserved for the statute of limitations on rape (at least) and provides the option of extending that timeline under certain circumstances, if needed. To help others fight for rape victims’ civil rights, Amanda began the nonprofit Rise, which has passed 91 laws for more than 112 million people and counting. Her activism led her to the United Nations, which adopted her groundbreaking guidelines for
Until 2013, when she was raped.
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