Texas school teacher among six-person crew in upcoming Blue Origin space launch

A teacher from Galveston will be among the six-person crew in Blue Origin's next trip to space, the company announced Wednesday.

The mission, named NS-32, is the New Shepard program's 12th human and 32nd overall flight.

The flight's date has not yet been announced.

Blue Origin released the crew's names and qualifications, and said a livestream will be available on its website 30 minutes before takeoff.

Aymette (Amy) Medina Jorge

Jorge, a high school and middle school STEM teacher at Odyssey Academy in Galveston, secured her spot on the NS-32 mission after receiving a sponsored seat from Farmacias Similares, a pharmaceutical chain in Mexico.

Blue Origin said Jorge has led more than 60 space experiments among her students, including developing and flying biometric sensors with her students, and performing in-flight 3D printing.

Blue Origin said Jorge is the 2013 recipient of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Challenger Center Trailblazing STEM Educator Award.

Born in Puerto Rico, Blue Origin said Jorge's mission is to boost Hispanic representation in STEM fields and push for greater inclusion in science for underrepresented communities.

Dr. Gretchen Green

Dr. Green is a radiologist specializing in women’s imaging with about 20 years of clinical experience. Green first attended Space Camp in 1986, later worked as a Crew Trainer, chaired the Space Camp Alumni Association, and now serves on the U.S. Space & Rocket Center Education Foundation Board.

She founded The Expert Resource, a resource she says aims to help physicians build businesses and improve patient care. At 16, Green bicycled across the U.S. to fight hunger. Dr. Green trained at Harvard, Yale and Brown, earning degrees in neuroscience, history of medicine, and medicine from Brown, and is a graduate of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy. 

Jaime Aleman

Aleman is a Panamanian attorney, businessman and former ambassador to the United States.

A Notre Dame and Duke Law School graduate, Aleman serves as a Senior Partner at Alemán, Cordero, Galindo & Lee, a law firm he co-founded in 1985 and sits on the board of directors of one of Panama’s largest private banks.

Aleman serves on Special Olympics International’s Board of Directors, Duke Law School's Board of Visitors and the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Latin America Board. Aleman will become the first person to travel to all 193 U.N.-recognized countries, the North and South Poles and space. 

Jesse Williams

Williams is a Canadian entrepreneur and adventurer. He started his first digital marketing business at age 16 and currently serves as CEO of Car History Group, which he founded in 2012.

A competitive cyclist and avid mountaineer, Williams has summited six of the seven highest peaks on Earth, including Mt. Everest and Antarctica’s Mt. Vinson. 

Mark Rocket

Rocket is an entrepreneur from Christchurch, New Zealand. He is CEO of Kea Aerospace, which develops solar-powered, stratospheric UAVs for aerial imaging and monitoring and President of Aerospace New Zealand, whose mission is to promote the interests of the New Zealand aerospace community. He was a seed investor in Rocket Lab, where he served as co-Director until 2011.

Paul Jeris

Jeris is a real estate developer and entrepreneur. He says, inspired by his NASA engineer father, he grew fascinated with space at a young age. He spent his childhood summers on Florida’s Space Coast, watching historic Apollo, Shuttle, Mariner, Voyager and Viking launches.

Jeris has visited more than 149 countries and aims to see every nation. He also serves on several local and regional tourism boards, and says he hopes to give back to the travel industry that has helped shape his life.