Emily Calandrelli, 100th woman in space, refuses to bow to ‘small men on the internet’

By Lex Harvey, CNN

(CNN) — Gazing out the window of a rocket at Earth’s glistening blue perimeter, Emily Calandrelli’s mind was likely far from away from the trolls that inhabit the internet on this planet.

But less than 24 hours after the MIT engineer and TV host known as “Space Gal” became the 100th woman to venture into space, “hoards of men” online sexualized her raw and emotional response, the author and astronaut said in a social media post.

In a video released by Jeff Bezos’ aerospace company Blue Origin, a wonderstruck Calandrelli, who was one of six space tourists to join the launch, can be seen looking out the window and gushing, “Oh my God, this is space.”

It was an emotional and poignant reaction to achieving what Calandrelli called a dream “decades in the making.”

Hundreds of social media users shared messages of support for Calandrelli, calling her an inspiration for women and young girls. Several women commented on her post saying they had watched the live stream of the launch with their daughters.

But trolls seized on her reaction, making so many offensive comments that Blue Origin took down its original video from the launch and replaced it with an edited one, Calandrelli said. CNN has reached out to Blue Origin for comment.

Calandrelli said she would not let online trolls ruin an experience that brought her “the most life-altering spectacular joy and awe.”

“I refuse to give much time to the small men on the internet. I feel experiences in my soul,” Calandrelli said in the post.

“I will not apologize or feel weird about my reaction. It’s wholly mine and I love it.”

A representative for Calandrelli said she did not wish to comment further and would prefer to focus on the inspiration her journey has given others, rather than posts by “misguided” trolls.

Friday’s mission was Blue Origin’s ninth human spaceflight on the rocket used for space tourism. The mission was to fly above the Kármán line – the boundary separating Earth’s atmosphere from outer space – for several minutes before returning to Earth.

Joining Calandrelli on board were Sharon Hagle, Marc Hagle, Austin Litteral, James (J.D.) Russell, and Henry (Hank) Wolfond.

Upon landing safely at Blue Origin’s launch site in West Texas, Calandrelli compared seeing Earth from space for the first time to motherhood.

“I immediately turned upside down and looked at the planet and then there was so much space, and I kept saying, like, ‘that’s our planet!’

“It was the same feeling I got when my kids were born where I’m like, seeing it for the first time.”

In June 1963, Soviet cosmonaut Valentina V. Tereshkova became the first woman to travel to space, but it would be 20 years before another woman would leave Earth.

Astronaut Sally K. Ride became the first American woman to visit space in June 1983.

Calandrelli said she was crying on the flight home from the mission because of the online reaction and texting her “space sisters” for advice.

As she was getting off the flight, Calandrelli said the Southwest flight attendant recognized her and whispered, “don’t let them dull your shine.”

“I felt an immediate sense of camaraderie with her, with all women,” Calandrelli said.

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