Northbrook woman heads to space alongside billionaire Richard Branson
NORTHBROOK - By now, you have likely seen Richard Branson’s historic flight to the edge of space. But did you know a local woman was part of the team?
The Chief Astronaut Instructor with the crew is from suburban Northbrook.
Before Beth Moses made history floating alongside billionaire Branson in the cabin of Virgin Galactic VSS Unity, she first walked the halls of Glenbrook North High School.
"She's in the forefront of where we're going as a world," said Glenbrook North High School Assistant Principal Mike Tarjan.
Moses graduated in 1987. The staff says, even as a teenager, she had a love of physics.
"She was president of the science club where she really vowed her– put everything into science and really wanted to become an astronaut," said Tarjan.
That dream now becoming a reality.
In May, Moses received the school's Distinguished Alumni Award and spoke about how her career "took off."
"I left GBN to go pursue aerospace engineering and ended up at NASA and then at Virgin Galactic, where I am a professional astronaut and the chief astronaut instructor," Moses said in a video from the awards ceremony.
Those in the community are in awe of her accomplishments and inspired by her tenacity.
"It’s pretty cool to have, you know, that kind of role model from here," said Peter Burgar of Northbrook.
"That’s exciting and amazing," said Joann Knack, who went to Glenbrook North High School. "And we’re very proud."
Despite her long list of accomplishments, Moses remains down to Earth, saying she is forever grateful to Northbrook and Glenbrook North High School.
"That education gave me such a foundation," said Moses during the awards ceremony video. "To go do everything I sort of had my heart set on doing."
The school is hoping to bring her back in the fall to work with physics students.