posted 11-15-2024 11:59 AM               

She is announcing the 10 items she is taking with her.

1. Artwork by Chilu

   The astronaut is modeled after my daughter and represents all of our children who have big dreams.

   The star balloons are slightly deflated showing that sometimes things don’t go as planned, and the path may not be as simple and easy as you'd once hoped, but you got there anyway. I've worked for many years towards this dream and I plan to make the most of it.

   And in the corner you'll see the Blue Origin space capsule - the ride that will bring me to the stars.

   For anyone hoping to get a print of this - stay tuned! We'll be offering high quality prints to raise money for charity after my flight.

2. Her father's West Virginia University class ring.

posted 11-15-2024 09:14 PM               

3. An astronaut flashdrive with "with your and your kids' dreams."

   Emily has set this up as a GoFundMe for Children's Home Society of West Virginia.

   Please put your dreams in this form (fill this out by Wednesday, Nov. 20).

   I want everyone to be able to do this, so there is no required donation to participate!

posted 11-16-2024 05:29 PM               

4. 100,000 Fast Plant seeds to distribute to students across the United States.

   I'm bringing science and I am giving it away to you all. I'm helping to build on plant research conducted by the Space Force.

   Major Luci White, a biology instructor at the U.S. Air Force Academy and fellow West Virginian, studies plants in microgravity. During my flight, I will be working with her and the Wisconsin Fast Plants program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to gather more evidence. We're hoping to answer the question how do plants grow in space? How does gravity impact their growth? How does light, or lack of light, impact their growth? Important questions if we hope to expand humans' reach throughout the solar system.

   I'll be bringing two petri dishes into space that have tiny plant seedlings. When I return from space, these seedlings will be whisked away and quickly planted in soil. Then they will fly back to the Wisconsin Fast Plants program where we can all watch them grow, flower and produce seed. Then, of course, we'll compare them to ground-based control seedlings that never went to space.

   And guess what? I'm also bringing 100,000 seeds with me to give away to you all so that your students in your classrooms of our space seed science. If you're interested in getting space seeds, let me know here and I'll share more details on that soon.

posted 11-17-2024 07:13 PM               

5. Miniature book covers and a roll of star decals.

   The nine children's science books that I published are too large and too heavy to bring. So instead, I'm bringing a bunch of these [miniature book covers]. I'm bringing up enough to gift a copy to all of my illustrators, after all their artwork will have flown in space.

   Sadly, I don't have enough room to bring up books to give away to you all, but I can bring up a roll of stickers. And so for a select number of signed books I can put a sticker on it and your kids will have something that has flown in space.

posted 11-19-2024 10:00 AM               

6. West Virginia and various lapel pins.

   I'm bringing a bunch of pins, brooches and cufflinks that all different meanings to me, ala Madeline Albright who was someone I admired. One of my lovely followers who is deaf asked me to bring the ASL sign for 'I Love You' so I'll bringing this one, too.

   The most common one I am bringing is my West Virginia pin, which I will gift to the West Virginians in my life who helped get me to where I am today.

   So the next time I am at a school or a conference or a book signing, I have a conversation starter on why I chose to wear that particular pin.

posted 11-20-2024 09:18 AM               

7. Meteorites and flat pearls.

   They fell in Russia in 1947 and I am going to be returning them to space... briefly, and then they are going to come back down. And then when I get back, I can put each of them in jewelry and pass them down to my kids or give it away as a very special gift.

   And then these I am really excited about. I wanted to bring something that I could give as a gift to the women in my life. My fellow female astronauts who helped me get to where I am today and all the women in my life who I admire. And so, I worked with a West Virginia jeweler to select these flat pearls because if you think about it, a pearl is really the result of a disruptor of a system, an outsider, something that shouldn't normally be there but ultimately ends up creating something beautiful in the process.

posted 11-21-2024 08:50 AM               

8. Starfish Project charms.

   On one side, you'll see the female symbol. On the other, you'll see the number "100". Why? Because I am going to be the 100th woman in space and to honor that I wanted to create a charm that I will eventually give away to kids who inspire me.

   Anytime a girl goes viral for creating a solar system fashion show or when they dress up like an astronaut for career day. For the little girls who see themselves in the stars, I want to give you one.

   So when you all see a science loving girl who inspires you, I hope that you'll tag me so I can find her and give her one of these.

   And because I am going to be the 100th woman in space, I am going to bring a $100 bill to frame, plus a bunch of $1 bills to give to all my friends and family who are coming to the launch.