An alumna of the U-M Department of Aerospace Engineering and Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, Aisha Bowe, is set to go to space on the first-ever all-women Blue Origin New Shepard’s Crewed NS-31 flight, scheduled to launch on April 14, 2025. This historic flight will be Blue Origin’s 11th human space mission that will cross the Kármán line – the internationally recognized boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space, 62 miles (100 km) above Earth.
Not only is this a historic flight for Blue Origin but also for U-M alumni from around the world. Bowe is the first female U-M alumna and sixth Black woman to make this journey to space. This achievement comes 30 years after NASA astronaut Mae Jemison became the first Black woman to travel to space aboard the Endeavour on mission STS47.
Bowe will be joined by her fellow soon-to-be astronauts Amanda Nguyễn, Gayle King, Katy Perry, Kerianne Flynn and Lauren Sánchez. This historic flight is expected to last about 11 minutes from takeoff to touchdown. In addition to marking Blue Origin’s 11th human mission, it will also be the 31st launch in the New Shepard program, named as a tribute to Alan Shepard, the first American to venture into space.
“As a proud University of Michigan alumna, this historic flight represents my pivotal education in the Aerospace Engineering program that gave me the confidence to pursue ambitious dreams beyond conventional boundaries. From community college to NASA, to founding my own companies and now to space — demonstrates what’s possible when institutions like U-M invest in diverse talent and innovative thinking. I’m honored to carry the Michigan spirit with me, and I hope my journey inspires future generations of Wolverines to reach for the stars.” Aisha Bowe commented.
From the time she was in high school, Bowe aspired to do great things beyond what others thought was possible. As an Ann Arbor, Michigan native, she started her journey at Washtenaw Community College (WCC), graduating in 2006, then went on to join the University of Michigan and received her BSE in Aerospace Engineering in 2008 and MEng in Space Systems Engineering in 2009. From there, she joined the Aviation Systems Division with the Aeronautics Directorate at NASA’s Ames Research Center, where she was a Mission Engineer in the Small Spacecraft Division and Aerospace Engineer in the Flight Trajectory Dynamics & Controls Branch.
In 2013, Bowe’s career shifted gears as she began a path towards entrepreneurship as founder and CEO of STEMBoard, a tech powerhouse that has been twice recognized on the Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing companies, specializing in using big data to create smart systems and software solutions for both federal and commercial organizations. Not only did she build a thriving business through STEMBoard, but she is also the founder of the hands-on, self-paced coding kit for kids, LINGO, launched in 2022 to help the next generation of engineers learn the fundamentals of hardware and software design at home.
Through her own experiences and passion for advocating for STEM education, Bowe has become a role model and inspiration for students and young professionals around the world. In 2020, she was named the U-M College of Engineering Outstanding Recent Alumna, a recognition given by the Michigan Engineering Alumni Board, the dean and faculty members, honoring alumni who are 35 years old or younger who have significantly contributed to their field within ten years of graduation. Additionally, she has been recognized with various other awards from the University of Michigan, the National Society of Black Engineers, NASA and other international organizations.
In addition to her contributions to the University and the College, Bowe also sits on the U-M Aerospace Department Industry Advisory Board and actively contributes to the Black Students in Aerospace (BSA) student organization as a mentor and sponsor. Through her work with BSA, she frequently visits the Aerospace Engineering Department, providing talks, mentorship opportunities and more. In 2021, she participated in “Overcoming Turbulence: Trials and Triumphs of Black Women in Aerospace”, the collaborative aerospace MLK event and a Meet and Greet with BSA students in November 2022. Additionally, her company STEMBoard was also a sponsor of BSA during the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 academic years, during which she became the group’s first platinum sponsor and presented the team with coding kits from her company, Lingo, to use for outreach purposes.
“Aisha Bowe was there from the inception of BSA and helped shape it to what it is today. She gave the founders (Prince Kuevor and Erin Levesque) the vision of what she foresaw BSA to be, based on the support and community that she would have wanted when she was a student. Being on the Aerospace Industrial Advisory Board, she was also able to be an advocate for our organization in those spaces and similarly encouraged us to express the value of our organization in the Aerospace Engineering Department,” commented BSA president Jardine Allen. “She continues to be an advocate for our organization and we are excited to see her launch on April 14th.”
By: Lily Lewis
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