Melbourne physicist makes history as first Aussie woman in space
A Melbourne physicist and businesswoman has been etched into the history books overnight, becoming the first Australian woman to travel into space.
Elaine Hyde was one of six crew members on board Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin flight, which left Earth's atmosphere yesterday, giving Elaine an unprecedented birdseye view of the planet.
She told Today she still can't believe it actually happened.
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Elaine Hyde is the first Australian woman to go into space. Today
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"Wonderful doesn't even begin to describe it, it was like nothing I could have imagined," she said.
"And I've spent a lifetime trying to imagine it myself, being in space was an amazing experience where it was quiet, calm and felt amazingly natural.
"It is somewhere where humans are meant to be and that really hit home when I was up there."
Elaine has wanted to go to space for the past three decades, ever since an astronaut visited her school when she was 10.
This was the view from the Blue Origin flight she was on board. Blue Origin
And she said thanks to companies like Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, Elon Musk's Space X and Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic, that dream is becoming a reality for more and more people.
"I think in about 20 years it's going to be commonplace," she said.
"And even in five years there'll be a lot of people just like me, it's coming, they're rapidly developing this technology and sending more and more people up to space.
"All I can think of right now is how to get back up there."
Hear Elaine's full chat with Today in the video above
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