Amanda Nguyen

Amanda Nguyen is an astronaut, activist and bioastronautics researcher, renowned as the first Vietnamese and Southeast Asian woman to travel to space on the Blue Origin New Shepard flight. Collaborating with the Vietnamese National Space Center and the Philippine Space Agency, she conducted two pioneering microgravity experiments: one investigating the impact of fluid dynamics on the absorbency of bamboo-based sanitary products with implications for women’s health, and another studying the effects of microgravity on Southeast Asian Brassica rapa seeds in relation to plant pathology.

As the founder and CEO of RISE, Nguyen champions the rights of sexual assault and rape survivors. She played a pivotal role in drafting and advocating for the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Rights Act, which passed unanimously in both the US Congress and the United Nations, currently safeguarding over one billion people worldwide. Her groundbreaking work earned her a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize and the distinction of TIME Woman of the Year in 2022. Beyond RISE, Nguyen is a leading figure in social justice movements such as Stop Asian Hate and the AAPI Visibility Pledge.

Nguyen is also the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir, Saving Five. The book intricately weaves her activism, highlighted by the landmark passage of the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Rights Act in 2016, with a profound narrative exploring her personal journey of healing from trauma, spanning different stages of her life. The memoir uniquely blends memoir and emotional insight, offering an inspiring and instructive perspective on resilience and hope.

A fellow at MIT and an astrophysics graduate of Harvard University, Nguyen has held internships at NASA, contributing to high-profile projects including the Kepler exoplanet mission and STS-135, the final space shuttle flight.