Key Highlights
- NASA and other space agencies are adding their voices to the chorus mourning the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.
- The queen, who died on 8th September at the age of 96, reigned for 70 years, longer than any other monarch in the history of the United Kingdom. As NASA noted, she saw a lot in those seven decades.
NASA officials said via Twitter that “Queen Elizabeth II’s reign spanned all of the spaceflights, predating both Sputnik and Explorer 1. They are moved by the curiosity Her Royal Highness showed their explorers over the years.
The Johnson Space Center (JSC) of NASA in Houston also tweeted a tribute, the nexus of the agency’s crewed spaceflight efforts, complete with two photos.
The UK Space Agency changed its Twitter header photo to a tribute to the queen. The European Space Agency posted condolences saying, ESA is saddened by the passing of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. Her Majesty spotted the dawn of the space age, meeting astronauts from Neil Armstrong to Britain’s own Tim Peake, who gifted her with the union flag patch from his spacewalk during the Principia mission.
Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin founder, tweeted that he can think of no one who better personified duty and his deepest condolences to all the Brits mourning her demise.
British billionaire Richard Branson, a founder of the Virgin Group of companies that includes Virgin Galactic and Virgin Orbit, published a blog post titled “The queen redefined leadership.”
Branson, who said he met the queen many times over the years, wrote that she lived a life of service, standing for the best of British values and providing grace and consistency in an ever-changing world. She was very astute, extremely calm, and a great listener, and had all excellent qualities in a leader. Also, she had a wonderful sense of humor and took a substantial interest in the people she met wherever she went.
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