Vanderbilt cardiologist Dr. Eiman Jahangir became the first Nashvillian to head to space.
The 10-minute suborbital flight took place Thursday morning in West Texas with Blue Origin, a private space exploration company founded by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos.
Jahangir and five other crew mates shot up into space, passing the Karman line, where earth’s atmosphere ends and space begins. That was before being separated from the rocket and leveraged back to earth.
“It was incredible, the whole thing,” said Jahangir after the flight. “To see it in three-dimension and actually see the earth curving around and just the darkness and the blackness of the sky and then when the capsule rotates you get by the sun.”
Jahangir following his quick trip to space wants everyone to know that anything is possible if you put in the work. He won the coveted spot in a contest for a digital currency organization after applying through NASA and being rejected five times.
The Martin Luther King Magnet High School graduate said once he gets back, he hopes to inspire kids to follow their dreams.
“The Adventure Science center, the Boys and Girls Club, and the school system really gave me the foundation to succeed, and I hope coming back that I can come speak to some of these schools,” said Jahangir.