Morgantown native to become the first West Virginia woman in space

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WBOY) — Morgantown native and host of Netflix’s “Emily’s Wonder Lab,” Emily Calandrelli announced Tuesday that she will soon become the first woman from West Virginia to become an astronaut.

According to a release from Calandrelli, she will be flying to space on a future flight of Blue Origin’s New Shepard launch vehicle from the company’s launch site in west Texas. The private company has flown seven successful human flight missions previously with the hope of making Calandrelli’s the eighth.

Calandrelli’s flight comes in part from the Wing 2 Wing Foundation which seeks to “unlock economic and lifestyle prosperity for all through access to education, entrepreneurism and the environment,” the release said.

As part of a partnership with Wing 2 Wing, Calandrelli will be shining a spotlight on the Marshall to All, Marshall Forever Program, which helps students graduate from Marshall University with a bachelor’s degree and without any debt. She will also make her way around the state to speak about her experience and how she’ll be the first woman from the Mountain State to go into space.

“I’m grateful to Alys and Brad D. Smith and the Wing 2 Wing Foundation for helping make this
dream a reality and can’t wait to return home after my flight to show my home state that a West
Virginian kid can make it to the stars,” Calandrelli said. “I’ll become one of the first ~100
women in space and, most importantly, the first West Virginia woman in space. I plan to share my experience with as many kids from the region as possible.”

To learn more about Calandrelli, click here and to learn more about the Wing 2 Wing Foundation, click here .

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