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Meet ‘beautiful astronaut’ and TikTok star, Kellie Gerardi: the 35-year-old mum joined a Virgin Galactic crew as the 90th woman in space – and had Star Wars Stormtroopers at her wedding

Kellie Gerardi is an astronaut, mum and TikTok star who also became the 90th woman to fly to space in November 2023. Photo: @kelliegerardi/Instagram
Kellie Gerardi is an astronaut, mum and TikTok star who also became the 90th woman to fly to space in November 2023. Photo: @kelliegerardi/Instagram

  • Gerardi worked as a payload specialist on Virgin Galactic’s Galactic 05 research mission in November 2023, becoming the 90th woman to fly to space – but she studied filmmaking at college
  • The 35-year-old Floridian had Stormtroopers at her wedding, and is mum to 6-year-old daughter Delta V – she’s also spoken about how women should be unapologetically themselves in space

Meet Kellie Gerardi: mum, researcher, astronaut and author, who became the 90th woman in history to fly to space. Oh, and she’s also a TikTok star.

Commercial astronaut, researcher and science communicator Kellie Gerardi. Photo: Getty Images
Commercial astronaut, researcher and science communicator Kellie Gerardi. Photo: Getty Images

Last November, Gerardi joined a Virgin Galactic crew for her first flight to space as a payload specialist. She conducted healthcare research funded by the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS) – and became one of the world’s first industry-sponsored researchers to fly on a commercial spacecraft.

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According to Virgin Galactic’s website, she has made it her mission to “use space as a laboratory to benefit humanity”.

A still from a Virgin Galactic video shows the June 2023 launch of Galactic 01, the company’s first commercial flight to the edge of space. Photo: AFP Photo
A still from a Virgin Galactic video shows the June 2023 launch of Galactic 01, the company’s first commercial flight to the edge of space. Photo: AFP Photo

Here’s what you need to know about the 35-year-old beautiful astronaut.

What is Kellie Gerardi’s background?

Kellie Gerardi and her friend and colleague Sirisha Bandla, back in 2012. Photo: @kelliegerardi/Instagram
Kellie Gerardi and her friend and colleague Sirisha Bandla, back in 2012. Photo: @kelliegerardi/Instagram

Born in February 1989 in Jupiter, Florida, Gerardi recalled her childhood in an interview with Jupiter magazine: “Growing up here, my bedroom window faced northeast and that stretch of sky over Cape Canaveral. I could literally watch space shuttle launches from my bedroom.”

She graduated from Jupiter Community High School in 2007 and moved to New York City to study documentary filmmaking at Barnard College.
Kellie Gerardi and Sirisha Bandla (bottom) admiring planet Earth from space. Photo: @kelliegerardi/Instagram
Kellie Gerardi and Sirisha Bandla (bottom) admiring planet Earth from space. Photo: @kelliegerardi/Instagram

While working in the cloakroom at the Explorers Club – an organisation promoting the scientific exploration of land, sea, air and space – Gerardi met astronaut Richard Garriott, who talked to her about opportunities in commercial space flight. This prompted Gerardi to pursue research in bioastronautics at the IIAS in Colorado after finishing her bachelor’s degree at NYU in 2011. She shared with the same publication: “As a new grad, to me it felt like: wow, that’s the Star Trek future I want to be a part of!”

What exactly does Kellie Gerardi do in space?