Amanda Nguyễn stepped out of a windowed white capsule in the West Texas desert on Monday (April 14), placed her hands firmly on her chest, then punched them toward the sky, beaming with joy. Having just flown beyond the Kármán line — recognized as the division between Earth and the rest of the universe — she'd just become the first Vietnamese woman to fly to space. She'd also just closed the loop on a dream she paused for 10 years to advocate for civil rights, keeping a promise to her younger self that she would "return to her."
