Say what you want about the changes to the space industry that’s happened over the past 10-20 years, but one thing is for certain – there are a lot more people that have access to space now than there ever has been before. Some of them have some absolutely crazy stories about how they got there, and plenty of those have written their own books about their experiences, before, during, and after their flight. Add to that list A Heart for Space by Dr. Eiman Jahangir – a cardiologist that officially became an astronaut when he crossed the Kármán line on a Blue Origin flight in August 2024. But the story of how an Iranian-American cardiologist made it all the way to space has lessons for anyone that hopes to follow in his footsteps.
Dr. Jahangir was born in Iran during the Iran/Iraq war, and his parents immigrated to Nashville when he was four years old. He knew from an early age that he had two very specific dreams – become a doctor, and travel to space. Becoming a doctor was relatively straightforward. Becoming an astronaut was…not.
After successfully graduating from medical school, he started a career as a cardiologist that wound up with him working at Vanderbilt’s medical center. Having achieved the first part of his dream, he turned his sights towards the second one.
Webcast of the NS-26 mission that Dr. Jahangir was on. Credit – Blue Origin YouTube Channel
That dream was, to put it mildly, hard. Back when he first started looking into how to get to space, NASA was the only game in town. He reached multiple final rounds of the astronaut selection process, but was still never chosen for a mission. During that same time, he suffered a number of personal setbacks that seemed to put his dream even further out of reach.
Enter the New Space industry, and its promise of wider access to space for all. Along his journey down the path to becoming an astronaut on that Blue Origin flight, Dr. Jahangir crossed paths with some interesting fellow travelers, including the current NASA administrator Jared Isaacman, and Israeli astronaut and entrepreneur Eytan Stibbe – an excellent example of how people from conflicting parts of the world can share a bond over their love of the space above us.
A Heart for Space is part memoir, part self-help book for those aspiring to someday make it into space. Jahangir states his core premise plainly – the path to space is no longer about government selection boards or having “the right stuff”. It requires a systematic, repeatable process of consistently driving towards this ultimate dream of so many people.
Post-launch interview with Dr. Jahangir, explaining how MoonDAO enabled his dream. Credit – MoonDAO YouTube Channel
Some of the finer points of that system are covered ad nauseam in other self-help books, such as “Say It Out Loud” and “Define Your Dream”. But the application to becoming an astronaut in this new age of commercial spaceflight is novel, and well worth a read.
But even without the advice, the story itself is compelling. Five rejections from NASA, a stint in the Biosphere 2 habitat, and securing his ticket to space through a “decentralized autonomous organization” known as MoonDAO, proves that the future of spaceflight is very different from its past.
For now that difference means it’s still limited to the people with the connections or pocketbooks to afford what is undoubtedly an expensive ticket. But stories like A Heart for Space show how that might rapidly change in the near future, and anybody looking to be inspired to take their own adventure above the Kármán line should take notes – or at least read the book without taking any.
Learn More:
Dr. Eiman Jahangir – A Heart for Space
UT – What’s Next for Blue Origin After Today’s Successful Flight?
UT – Artemis V is Going to the Moon With Blue Origin
