Physics student kept ‘dream’ space flight secret from work

A physics student who won a place on Virgin Galactic's second commercial flight into space kept the "dream" news a secret from her colleagues.

Anastatia Mayers and her mother Keisha Schahaff will be the first mother and daughter to go to space on Thursday.

But 18-year-old's co-workers only learned of her voyage from a news report posted in their work group chat.

They will be tuning in to watch the scheduled launch in New Mexico at 15:30BST.

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Julia Lisicka, a manager at the Mexican restaurant FreshMex in Aberdeen, said the news about Anastatia had come as an "extraordinary surprise".

Staff learned about it after one of the restaurant's owners posted an article about it in their work group chat.

Image caption, Julia Lisicka, (centre) and the staff at FreshMex will be watching Anastitia take-off on a laptop

"It was very funny because she never mentioned it," Julia told BBC Scotland News.

"We were like laughing 'did you book off the day that you're flying to space?'.

"She never said a word, it was a secret until it came out through the news. We're very excited for her."

The mission Anastatia and her mother will embark on is named Galactic 02. It is the first commercial spaceflight with paying customers onboard.

The advertised price for a ride on the rocket plane has been as high as $450,000 (£350,000).

Image source, Virgin GalacticImage caption, A previous Virgin Galactic spaceflight reached a height of 279,00ft (85km)

Keisha entered the competition for a place onboard after seeing an advert for it pop up while on a Virgin Atlantic Flight.

She was travelling to the UK from Antigua in the Caribbean to sort out her daughter's visa as Anastatia had decided to study at the University of Aberdeen.

She is currently enrolled there and studying for a degree in philosophy and physics.

'Dream' journey

Dr Ross MacPherson, the head of undergraduate physics at the university said he is looking forward to hearing about her experience first-hand.

"We're all really excited about it. There's only been I think 620 people who have been into space and now one of our students is one of them so it's fantastically exciting," he said.

"We're in the physics department so being in space, being an astronaut – that's something a lot of us have as a dream. I think a lot of us are excited for term to start again to talk to her about the experience."

Anastatia will be the second youngest person to go to space.

Image source, Virgin GalacticImage caption, Keisha Schahaff, left, and her daughter Anastatia Mayers will be the first mother and daughter to travel to space together

The launch window for the Galactic 02 opens at 08:30 local time (15:30BST) and it will be blasting off from a spaceport in New Mexico.

Julia said she and others working at FreshMex will be tuning into watch the take-off in-between rolling burritos.

"We're going to get a laptop, put the transmission on and just watch it all together," she said.

"She's very much into girl power so she always said that she wants to inspire little girls around the world.

"It's very inspiring for little girls and even us bigger girls – Ana is younger than me and I'm very much inspired."