Amanda Nguyen made history as the first Vietnamese woman to go on a Blue Origin space trip earlier this year. The flight itself was meant to be a moment she had worked toward for years. But on Instagram, she shared that everything took a sharp turn once she returned to Earth, where she found herself dealing with a kind of backlash she had not expected at all.
Amanda Nguyen talks about the ‘aftermath’ of Blue Origin all-female crew’s space flight
Amanda Nguyen wrote openly about how painful the period following her Blue Origin space trip became. She revealed, “When Gayle called to check in on me in the aftermath of the spaceflight, I told her my depression might last for years,” adding that the trip seemed like “Another dream turned into a nightmare.” Nguyen explained how the excitement around the mission was immediately in shambles. In that, she said her work and the meaning behind the flight were disappearing “under an avalanche of misogyny.”
The social entrepreneur said the widespread attention online felt impossible to deal with, writing, “It amounted to billions of hostile impressions — an onslaught no human brain has evolved to endure.” Moreover, she shared that she stayed inside for a week because she couldn’t get out of bed. Even a month later, she still “could not speak through my tears.”
In the post, she included a photo with a handwritten journal entry from December 27 that says “I’m happy to report the depression has lifted,” and explained that it did not happen overnight. Instead, she slowly felt things lighten. Nguyen wrote, “It’s been 8 months since then, and I’m glad that the fog of grief has started to lift,” thanking everyone who supported her through the ordeal.
Furthermore, Nguyen reflected on surviving past trauma, writing, “We never fully leave behind our past selves; all parts of us are valuable.” Toward the end of her message, she sounded steadier as she confessed, “I can tell Gayle it’s not going to take years” — a hopeful sign that she is finally finding space to heal again.
