Amanda Nguyen
In brief
Amanda Nguyen is a civil rights leader, astrophysicist and astronaut. The daughter of Vietnamese refugees, she drafted the Sexual Assault Survivors' Rights Act, which passed unanimously through both chambers of Congress in 2016. In April 2025, she flew to space on the first all-female crewed spaceflight, becoming the first Vietnamese and first Southeast Asian woman in space.
From Harvard astrophysics to the halls of Congress
Born in 1991 in California, Amanda Nguyen is the daughter of Vietnamese boat refugees who fled after the war. She grew up on their stories of using the stars to find their way. She wanted to be an astronaut for as long as she can remember.
She studied astrophysics at Harvard and interned at NASA twice, working on the Kepler exoplanet mission and the final shuttle flight. She was on the path.
Then, in her final semester, she was sexually assaulted.
She went to the hospital within 24 hours and had a rape kit examination. She then discovered that Massachusetts law would destroy that evidence after six months, untested, even though the statute of limitations for rape was 15 years.
She filed her kit under "Jane Doe" because she knew an open court case would block the security clearances she needed for NASA.
She said: "I wanted to be an astronaut. I didn't want to be an activist."
At 23, she founded Rise, a civil rights organisation fighting for survivors. She drafted the Sexual Assault Survivors' Rights Act herself. It passed unanimously through both chambers of Congress and was signed into law by President Obama in 2016. She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize at 27.
In 2021, her viral video kickstarted the Stop Asian Hate movement.
What is Amanda Nguyen's connection to space?
The same year, she went back to her childhood dream and began training as a scientist astronaut candidate, researching women's health in space, partly because NASA had historically treated menstruation as a reason women were not suited to spaceflight.
On 14 April 2025, she flew to space on Blue Origin's NS-31 as part of the first all-female crewed spaceflight. She became the first Vietnamese and first Southeast Asian woman in space. She carried 169 lotus seeds from the Vietnam National Space Center.
She said: "This flight means I get to honour who I was before I became a survivor."
Key facts
Born: 1991, California
Education: Astrophysics, Harvard University
Founded: Rise (civil rights organisation for survivors of sexual assault)
Legislation: Sexual Assault Survivors' Rights Act (2016), passed unanimously through both chambers of Congress
Nobel Peace Prize nomination: 2018
Spaceflight: Blue Origin NS-31, 14 April 2025
Notable firsts: First Vietnamese woman in space. First Southeast Asian woman in space. Crew member on the first all-female crewed spaceflight.
Last updated September 2026