Lots of views on space tourism out there. Yeah, the high price tag has meant that this ride is for the few that can afford it, unless you have a business or humanitarian organization footing the bill. Do these trips open up access to space to more people, or are they just joy rides? Does space tourism advance scientific understanding, inspire future leaders, and create passionate advocates for the caretaking of our world? There are absolutely no simple answers here, and nobody knows that reality better than those who have made the incredible journey to space themselves. Welcome to T-Minus Deep Space from N2K Networks. I'm Maria Varmasas. Nikolina Elric's journey is a tale of relentless ambition and resilience. From her humble beginnings in Scotland, she has forged her way to becoming one of the first 100 women to travel to space. Nikolina was part of Blue Origin's NS26 crew, which flew to the Carmen Line in August 2024. This is her story. My name's Nikolina Elric. The real Nikolina E is what everybody knows me as in all my socials, because it really is me. I think I got the real because I fell into like a space as my thing, and I really feel like that's me. And I've thrown myself into it for the last 15 years and embraced it. Prior to that, I come from extremely humble beginnings, which is contrary to most of the Blue Origin flyers. So when I launched the Blue Origin back in August this year, August to a night this year with an amazing crew, most people think of Blue Origin flyers as like the billionaire joy club all flying up to space and a little jolly. And I kind of wanted to break that record for the wrong. I just showed that that's not what I'm about. So my mission statement was like girls who come from trauma and come from nothing can achieve greatness and touch the stars quite literally. So yeah, so I was a kid that came from nothing in Scotland. So I'm the first Scottish woman that went to space. That was incredible for me. I was a great achievement. Yeah, so I was born in Scotland from a very traumatic family. My mom was an alcoholic and I had an absentee father. So it was not great beginnings for me. But you know, I'm a survivor and I kind of start through and I saw education as my way out. So I worked extremely hard and it was an entrepreneur since the age of five. And I was just being doing all these like odd jobs here and there from like delivering papers to like setting up a company that was doing jello shots to all sorts of random kind of stuff until I kind of found my niche in IT. So I was doing programming and I made some money through IT investment through the 80s and 90s. Yes, I am that old. My God, this is just microphone and not camera. I would never have guessed that. Honestly. My goodness. That's very sweet. That's very sweet. Yeah, I was like during the 80s. So you're born in the 80s, right? So that's when you were five that you were cast on. Oh, that's very cute. I mean, give me a blessing and in the curse at the same time because some people when I'm trying to, you know, when I'm keynote speaking and do motivational training, people are like, you sure you did that? And then they'll Google me. They're like, wow, she really did. But yeah. So in the 80s and 90s, I was doing a lot of IT work and that, you know, it was fantastic. I loved it. It was definitely a thriving. And then the bubble happened. So all of us took a great hit and I had to pivot and I found that I wanted to tangible assets. So I then pivoted into construction and real estate and did really well out of that. And then I was doing consulting and companies kept coming out to me saying, hey, we've got a satellite system that, you know, we just don't know how to bring it to market or we've got this other system that's to do the space. And I just kind of rolled into it. Everybody kept talking about it all the time saying, hey, you know, space is a new frontier. And 15 years ago, nobody was talking about it apart from the major players. You know, there's a whisper of Jeff Bezos doing something. Elon had just taken the reins of SpaceX, but was not going anywhere fast with it. Like it was really still a standstill. So it was a very trying time of the industry where people were like, well, if you do this, it's a huge gamble. And I was like, you know, I can do that. You know, I come from nothing. I'm going to lose. I've made all this money, but I can lose it and win it and just keep trying. And I love to sink my teeth into something. And it took a point. It's like, you know, to make it grow. So I've been doing it for the last 15 years, talking to companies and consulting with them to make sure that, you know, space tech investment is a way forward. And doing that, I kind of thought I better go to space and find out if I'm really doing the right thing. So yeah, so I kind of started off by buying a ticket with Virgin Galactic and through them I did a lot of space training. I got introduced to all the right people and I was flying helicopters as a part-time hobby. So while I was doing that, I was meeting a whole other demographic of people too who then introduced me to other people who were working with like space agencies around the world. And I'm like, hey, you seem to have a bit of a knack for this. Would you because you're going to space? And of course, a little girl from Scotland going, becoming an astronaut, especially the word astronaut was never in my peripheral. But it's funny how one person can motivate you and another can ignite that in you. And it just was like, that was it. I was on a gold mission. I was like, I have got to go to space now. I got to find a way to go to space. And because all these commercial agencies have set up, the opportunity came up. You know, I got the call from Blue Origin to see a seat came available in 2020. And I was like, this is amazing. This is amazing. This is amazing. And I was like, I'm going to go to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. 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We were sitting there just really fine tuned together. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And I was like, I'm going to space. And we saw that going seven, six. And when that started happening, the cabin was red. You see fire coming up the side of your window. And you see debris just flying everywhere. And you saw anything. But you're trained for it. That they tell you this beforehand thing is that seven seconds before it starts moving, that you're going to think that you're I'm almost 4,000 km/h and you're pinned down so hard that, you know, my face is contorted and making all sorts of shapes in this eye but I kept looking one eye in the monitor and one eye out the window and I was like, I don't care how I look, this is like a ride of my life, this is what I've dreamed my whole life for. And you watch as the earth just gets smaller and smaller below you and it's just this fragility of it all. You're watching as this suddenly it goes from light to dark like a flick of a switch. It's something that is black and you're in space. And all that happens like within minutes and you're standing there and you're like, your harness becomes, you know, you lift up from your seat and you think there's no space in your harness parts going up. There is when you're in space you suddenly realize there is a gap. You undo your 5-point harness and you just float. For me it was more the view. I didn't want to throw candy or throw water or do some results. I was like, I want to see the view. So I went upside down more for like aesthetics in the camera to be like, hey, look at me. I'm so down. I can float. I did that. And then I immediately turned back around and clipped myself back and again, I looked out the window. And it was just magnetizing. They tell us to launch. Don't put your hands in the windows. We don't need fingerprints because we're filming it all. There's some science experiments happening. So we need all the camera footage we can get. First thing I did, slapped my face to the window and hand prints all over it. I was just like, I want to get out there. Oh my God. This is incredible. And I was screaming, this is incredible. Get me out there. I want to be in it. There was magnetism. I just felt so drawn into it. It was magnetic and sparkly and it wasn't like a dark black, like a sad black. It was like a beautiful, shiny, effervescent black that I just I've never seen in my life before. And all I wanted to do was swim in it. And so I literally was like glued to the window and just thought, I want to immerse myself and in my head, I'm thinking, I'm booking my next space, right? I have to get a trip. I have to start swimming. I have to experience this more. And before you know it, they're saying put your harnesses back on, clip back into seats. So everybody's like checking on one another. We all clicked in. We had a little GoPro. Did a couple of selfies all around with everyone. You know, shot them a little bit. And then we were coming down. You just see everything coming up fast, you know, and I'm just tears were streaming down my face. And I just I wanted the moment to stop. I wanted, you know, I wanted whole timeline of life to just stop. And I'm looking the fragility of the earth and that thin blue line everyone talks about. Yeah, it's really like that. Not flat, not a flat liner. It's definitely not flat. I heard this around. But yeah, that thin blue line was just like, okay, I need to do something that involves helping Mother Earth being part of that and bracing, you know, I love to call it patch of mama, bracing patch of mama and just finding a way to bring space and earth in her harmony together as one. I mean, our mission and goal was about humanitarian causes. We had such a disruptive crew. We had, you know, I'm Muslim and a Jew and the youngest woman and like everybody was so different and eclectic. But we worked so well. And I think that's the beauty of space, eclecticism. And like there's no, I mean, it's people talk it ad nauseam, no boundaries, no religion, no nothing. It really is. And it expands your brain into so many different levels and takes your breath away that you just think, why can't we live like this all the time? Why can't life be like this continuous? So yeah, when I came back down to earth, I came down with us dogs. It was really hard for me to kind of like, you know, bring myself back into like how the world just evolves and the hate and the anger and everything else and how, you know, and I just, it was great because it made me think I need to help people. I need to change that. I need to do something that, yeah, makes in from the roots out. So for me, it's kids. I always think if you talk to children, you encourage children, you motivate them, you enlighten them in a way that brings joy to their heart and soul, then they're going to be better people in this world. And if they're happier, better people, there's going to be less war. And if there's less war, then there's going to be more, everything's going to be better for everybody. So yeah, that was kind of, that was kind of my, my, my 10 minute little ride, but it just made me so addicted to like, I want it to do more. I want it to do more. We'll be right back. I can only imagine after such a, I mean, you're up there, you're, my life is forever changed, right? I mean, there's nothing will ever be the same. I mean, that is not often in life. Do we get moments like that? Maybe when, like when our child is born, you know, but going into the space is definitely, you know, nothing will ever be the same. And I, that what comes after, I'm always so curious. And you, you were starting to get to that because, I mean, walking around in the, on earth going, I've been to space. How do I even kind of go about my day now? Well, that was it. Well, yeah, really, I was like, you know, you may get told by, you know, different, I work with different space agencies and they were just like, well, Nick, you really should like get a publicist. You should arrange all of this. And I just thought, why, why, why do I have to pay money to tell people that we can do better? I'm like, that should naturally grab, re-grammitate towards people that can get that message out to the right people at the right time. And so, you know, I reached out a couple of people by myself and just said, Hey, this is my story. You know, I want people to see I'm a real rags to riches. I'm a real girl from trauma can touch the stars. You know, and I've written, I have to say there's a little bit of a plug. I did write a book about my life that's coming out next year. So it's great to diamond stars. We have a little bit of a hiccup of some legality. So some people who were in it don't want to be in it anymore. So I'm rewriting them out of the book. Which is fine. There's not always a way that happens a lot. Exactly. So I'm kind of going through that the moment. But so unfortunately, it's not going to hit the Christmas book list. But hopefully a summer read for next summer, but you'll be sitting reading up a little girl who goes to space and how her dreams came true. So yeah, so kind of that's my journey. I'm kind of just talking about that, talking about how anything is possible. It's amazing. I love hearing you tell all these stories, by the way. You're a fantastic storyteller. So I just wanted to say that. I know you have other things that you're also working on. I was looking on your website. You're very busy. This is not surprising given how many phases of your career you've gone through. So I want to make sure I give you an opportunity to tell me a little bit about the other things that you're also up to. So feel free to regale me a bit because you're doing a lot of stuff. Yeah, I think my bread and butter is like private equity investment for space tech stuff. So that's more like everything from satellite systems, astro mining, just a little bit of like kind of everything. But it has to be companies that have real time to blast it on earth too. I don't believe, you know, I live through the dot com bubble where everyone was like, I'm a unicorn and give me trillions of money. And it's like, well, I'm not going to buy your dream. I need to see this as a reality. It could work. So people are quite yeah, very, very careful what they bring to my desk. But when they do, I usually get some really good, good stuff, which I'm really grateful for, which is great. And then flantypec side, I do a lot of motivational speaking at schools. So I try and target age group between like eight and 15, because I think that's a pivotal point in someone's life. The first six months are usually indebted with like the parents of like ingrained in them certain like patterns. And it's up to us to then bring that forward and make that a creative side and not more harmonious. I didn't help guide them into what they can do. And I talked totally about STEM. I think it's really important for girls to be encouraged by it. When I was a girl, I would, you know, it wasn't it was home economics and baking and knitting and we weren't told it's physics and science and all that were great and fun. And you can be pretty and wear pink and sound there in a Bunsen burner and you know, your lab coat doesn't have to be white. It can be fluorescent. And so I, you know, I'm trying to break that demographic of all that. So you look, you can basically do anything. So I love doing that. So I talked to a lot of schools. I get to learn how to do that. And then I also do corporate trainings and motivations. And I talked to CEOs of companies because I think a lot of companies aren't working or need to pivot. It becomes rotten from the top down. And companies don't always acknowledge that they blame their staff constantly. Oh, they're not working hard enough or they're not doing the right thing or we've applied the wrong people. And it's like, well, hold on a minute, can't be a whole team. Surely something else is wrong. So yeah, our team tend to go in and we do like a 360 and we assess everybody. And I'd say 90% of the time it's the boss. So I then go in and sit down with the boss and be like, Hey, I'm sorry, but I'm the one here. It's like the bearer bad news. I'm always coming into fight fires. And I think I'm pretty good at it. So I sit down with them and I listen to what they think the company should be out where they think it should go. And then I'll sit down with them and be more of a sounding board. Like I will never advise someone this is the way the direction company should be. I'll listen to them and like pick keywords up from what they've said and say, well, did you think about this? I could obviously you're thinking about it, but if you pivoted in this way instead. So yeah, I love I think I love that more than anything else. And I'm in a really nice position in my life where I get to pick and choose because it's not every boss I want to work with some people I'm thinking are beyond hope. And I don't want to tell them that. So I'll be like, I'll send in one of my team members or something like, yeah, there's that's a person I can know that guy, the one who's prejudiced, love him up and arrogant. Well, let's we just need to fire him. So yeah, but I love it. I really love my job. And I think it's really important to encourage women to come, you know, key players and positions of power. And you know, I'm in a huge fan of like Gwen Shultwell, who's running SpaceX, because I think that she's done that remarkably well over the last 15 years. I've watched her turn it around and and she does it in the sideline, you know, she doesn't have to be in front of the camera all the time to achieve the greatness that she's done. And I have great admiration for that. And there's a lot of other pivotal players like that too, in the automotive industry and all around. So you know, it's great. I get to talk to people like that and speak to them about their struggles. And I mean, for a sense of experience, when I came back down from space, I had a lot of hate on social media. I mean, it was just, I'm surprised men become very vindictive and angry with women who have places of power. And they suddenly there's this hate of like, you know, who did you sleep with? What did you do? And I was just like, well, hold on a minute. Why are you saying that? Why have you become so toxic? Why do you feel it necessary? And, you know, keyboard warriors who hide behind that screen are the worst ones for it. So we are company because, you know, we have some great IT security, we tend to try and find out who these people are, and they'll reach out to them and on a different site, like, we'll find out who they are, then reach out to them to their LinkedIn and they'll be horrified. I'll be like, you know, X629525Z that you're using on Insta, well, we know it's you. So do you want to tell us why you're saying that to this person? And they'll suddenly write it and be like, well, you know, actually this happened. So it's usually some court thing that happened to them. They made them angry, like some woman, you know, just distanced them somehow in their relationship, or they felt, you know, hurt by them that they just rally out. So we just need to navigate that and try and realize that people, you know, that needs to be less hate, we need to kind of make sure that we can work harmoniously together. Yeah, I've seen what you're talking about, both in your case and other women who've gone to space, I'm thinking of Emily Calandrelli as soon as she came back down to earth. And no woman is surprised, it's sadly disappointingly familiar. But I, yeah, I hate that it's happening. I mean, I'm currently right now, staying with a friend of mine. She's a virgin galactic astronaut. And her and I were chatting about last night, and it's just doesn't matter which spaces you see you're from, it could be NASA or ESA or galactic or blue or wherever. All of us encounter the same thing. And that's horrifying. And this day and age, and like you see, we've just had the hundredth woman who's made in space. We need to break this, not just the glass ceiling of women in these power positions, but the toxicity that people throw at you afterwards because you've done that because you're driven and because you want to achieve something. I mean, we should be embraced by that. Yeah. And it's amazing when we have in this space industry, the conversations about how do we get more women into the space industry. And I often can't say it very directly, but part of me just wants to go, well, look what happens when women go to space. And I'm just, Emily just went like she just came back. So I was there. I went to wait for a second. Yeah, you were there. I know, you know, you were quite literally there. And I'm just thinking, what a, I mean, again, life changing experience for her to then encounter that kind of ugliness upon such a joyful thing to end. It's completely wrong and terrible and yet so predictable. Like every woman saw that one coming. And it's just like, why, why, why? It will spoke to her about it too. Yeah. And we, you know, everybody reached out and said to her, Hey, you know, we're here to help you manage the after. And it's like, it's as much as you tell people this is going to happen. You're like, no, but you're in such a high from space that that comes out of just blindside to you because you're like, hold in a minute. Can everybody rally around and just give me a hug and tell me how amazing this experience is being. I mean, and I just, you know, I'd say that's all the crew who fly in any shape or form. And I always say, your experience can never be taken away from you. Always remember that. Keep yourself grounded. Remember those moments, whatever else said, everybody else says good or for bad. Just remember your moments and your key things. And you know, the most important is journal afterwards, write it down, make sure you have a copy of it. So anytime someone else gives you like, just Roth, you just reread that and remind yourself this was your journey. That's right. Yeah. And for those of us who have never been, but are watching and cheering you all on to me, I consider it part of my mission is to just be that positive voice that there's so many of us that just admire you all so greatly. And as the mother of a little girl, I am always telling all your stories to her because those are, those are not the loud conversations on social media. They're the quiet ones happening at home. But women like you, they matter a great deal to women like me and my little girl. We wouldn't be in positions where there are two of them. I'm like, you're helping us spread the word of this joy, you know, and I just think that's important. We all work, we're all links in one big chain together. There's no bigger link than the other. It's like, and I just think that, you know, it's great. Well, I, Nikolina, I'm so glad I got a chance to talk to you. I want to give you the last word. I always like to give my guests the last word. If there's anything you want to leave everybody with, but I just wanted to say thank you so much for speaking with me. It's really been an honor and a joy speaking with you. So, but by all means, let you, you will have the last word. Thank you, Mariah. It's been really, it's been, it's been an honor and joy for me to be able to have a moment to talk to people about this. I just think it's important that people realize like never stop dreaming, believe in those dreams, don't let anyone else sideline you and take away anything you think you want to do. I mean, I'm a walking example that you can achieve anything, literally touch the stars. And I think that's important to remember. Just keep going for it. Never stop. That's it for T-Minus Deep Space brought to you by N2K Cyberwire. We'd love to know what you think of this podcast. You can email us at space@n2k.com or submit the survey in the show notes. Your feedback ensures we deliver the information that keeps you a step ahead in the rapidly changing space industry. T-Minus Deep Space is produced by Alice Carruth. Our associate producer is Liz Stokes. We're mixed by Elliot Peltzman and Trey Hester with original music by Elliot Peltzman. Our executive producer is Jennifer Eiben. Our executive editor is Brandon Karpf. Simone Petrella is our president. Peter Kilpe is our publisher. And I am your host, Maria Varmazis. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time.
