When NASA offered Aisha Bowe a job as an aerospace engineer, she said no. Though it was her dream, she didn’t feel she belonged there. As a kid, Bowe struggled with academics and impostor syndrome—a guidance counselor suggested she become a cosmetologist. But she went to community college and eventually got a master’s in space-systems engineering at the University of Michigan. A mentor convinced her to accept NASA’s offer, and she spent more than five years there before founding three companies, including Lingo, a STEM-education platform in Arlington. This spring, Bowe was part of the all-female Blue Origin space flight, making her one of only eight Black women to have gone into space. Yet, as she reflects here, none of that would have been possible if not for her love of science fiction.

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