One of the 97.9 The Hill co-owners recently left the stratosphere. Jim Kitchen, a UNC professor and Chapel Hill entrepreneur, had a once in a lifetime opportunity to go to space on a Blue Origin flight. Kitchen spoke with 97.9 The Hill about the flight and what it meant to him.
Kitchen has been to all 193 countries recognized by the United Nations. On March 31, he got to explore a new frontier: space.
“I was very emotional,” Kitchen said. “I had spent 50 years pursuing that goal. One of my earliest childhood memories was sitting on my mom’s lap watching an Apollo rocket lift off the coast of Florida. I remember that like it was yesterday. Then 50 years later to actually go to space, to have been able to achieve that goal and live that dream was just very emotional.”
Blue Origin is a commercial space flight company and manufacturer. Kitchen was one of six astronauts on the fourth space launch. The flight was quick, lasting less than 15 minutes.
The civilian astronauts of NS-20 flight, including UNC professor Jim Kitchen (third from left.) (Photo via Blue Origin.)
The civilian astronauts of NS-20 flight, including UNC professor Jim Kitchen (third from left.) (Photo via Blue Origin.)
“I [was] just holding on for dear life,” Kitchen said. “Like, ‘Please don’t be that guy that passes out on the way to space.’ The ascent was fast. I saw the first 10 seconds or so and then I was hanging on for dear life. After separation it was as if time stood still.”
During his flight, Kitchen got to add a space stamp to his passport, take pictures with his fellow crewmates and even see the curvature of the earth.
“Seeing space in a movie or in a book or a digital image is not the same as seeing it live,” Kitchen said. “I just feel so fortunate and humbled to have witnessed that. My brain went haywire seeing it.”
Kitchen said he carried a flag which read “194,” symbolic of all 193 UN countries and space. He also brought stickers, a photo of his family and a UNC basketball signed by Michael Jordan and Dean Smith. He said he hopes to add the signatures of Roy Williams and Hubert Davis and later auction it off to give the proceeds to the UNC entrepreneurship program.
“I was able to fly the U.S. and Ukraine flags up in space as well,” Kitchen said. “To see that borderless planet was a beautiful sight. One that just reminds us all that we’re just people, we’re all ordinary people governed by different leadership structures, but we’re all the same people that have the same emotions and the same needs.”
Editor’s Note: Kitchen is a co-owner of the Chapel Hill Media Group, which consists of 97.9 The Hill and Chapelboro.com.
Featured photo via Blue Origin
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