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

According to Virgin Galactic’s website, its mission is to “use space as a laboratory for the benefit of humanity.”

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

What is Kellie Gerardi’s background?

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

While working in the locker room at the Explorers Club – an organization promoting the scientific exploration of land, sea, air and space – Gerardi met astronaut Richard Garriott, who told her spoke about the opportunities associated with commercial spaceflight. This inspired Gerardi to pursue research in bioastronautics at IIAS in Colorado after completing her bachelor’s degree at NYU in 2011. She shared in the same publication: “As a new graduate, for me, it was like: wow , it’s the Star Trek a future I want to be a part of! »

What exactly is Kellie Gerardi doing in space?

Gerardi began her career in 2012 at the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, where she worked as a lobbyist, media specialist and editor. She was a payload specialist during last November’s Galactic 05 research mission with Virgin Galactic. As Gerardi explained in an interview with Space.com, she had three experiments to perform during the Galactic 05 mission: one on the behavior of fluids in a low-gravity environment, one involving a portable biomonitoring device, and an experiment glucose monitoring.

In addition to continuing his bioastronautics research work for the IIAS, Gerardi has been responsible for mission operations for Colorado-based software company Palantir Technologies since November 2015, according to his LinkedIn. She also serves on the defense council of the Truman National Security Project and served on the board of directors of the Explorers Club – she’s come a long way since her days as a locker room attendant!

Kellie Gerardi is a science communicator

Gérardi is the author of Not Necessarily Rocket Science: A Beginner’s Guide to Life in the Space Age (2020), as well as the children’s picture book series Luna Muna (2022-23), which astronaut Peggy Whitson read as a bedtime story from space in May 2023.

Gerardi is also passionate about science communication, with nearly 817,000 followers on Instagram and over 795,000 on TikTok. She shares reels and snaps from her life in space, as well as inspiring messages about female empowerment and motherhood, often including her daughter.

According to the Virgin Galactic website, the 35-year-old believes she is “just an ordinary person and a mother who has embarked on an extraordinary journey.”

Kellie Gerardi is a wife and mother

Today, Gerrardi and Baumruk live in Jupiter, Florida, with their six-year-old daughter, Delta Victoria, or Delta V for short.

Kellie Gerardi wants women to be themselves in space

Last November, Gerardi became the 677th human and 90th woman to travel into space. She told Ergobaby: “It’s the honor of a lifetime to be one of them, but now the real work begins: helping open the door to commercial human spaceflight – because the limiter has always been access, not aptitude. »

In an interview with Forbes in February, she said, “To think that I was one of the first 100 women in history to travel to space is mind-boggling.”