80 year-old Seattle resident becomes world’s oldest woman to experience zero-gravity
Neither age nor gravity stopped 80 year-old Dorothy Simpson from flying into record books. Recently, Mrs. Simpson officially became the world’s oldest woman to experience weightlessness on a Zero-Gravity flight with Space Adventures, Ltd., the world’s leading space experiences company. Guinness World RecordsT, the global leader in comprehensive and authentic world records, has officially certified Mrs. Simpson’s incredible achievement.
“I didn’t set out to break any records. Space Adventures made it easy for me to fly,” remarked a modest Mrs. Simpson. “But experiencing weightlessness on my Zero-G flight was absolutely unforgettable.”
“Guinness World Records are very pleased to recognize this achievement. Individuals like Dorothy make our annual book what it is. Some people claim that life begins at 40, and Dorothy has proven that an amazing active life can carry on into your seventies and beyond. I look forward to hearing of her next adventure,” said David Hawksett, science editor at Guinness World Records.
Mrs. Simpson’s Zero-Gravity flight took place aboard an Ilyushin-76 aircraft from Zhukovsky Airbase outside Moscow, Russia. The aircraft performed several parabolic loops allowing her to experience moments of complete weightlessness. Four years earlier, at age 76, Mrs. Simpson experienced an Edge of Space flight with Space Adventures, travelling above 80,000 feet at speeds reaching Mach 2.5 aboard a Russian MiG-25.
“Dorothy is truly a remarkable woman,” said Eric Anderson, president and CEO of Space Adventures. “We’re constantly seeking adventurous spirits of any age and we look forward to celebrating many more milestones with Dorothy in the future.”
Throughout the years, Mrs. Simpson has been a tremendous supporter of the arts and sciences. She is a major contributor to the Seattle Museum of Flight, the Seattle Art Museum and Achievement Rewards for College Scientists, an organization providing scholarships to outstanding students in the fields of science and technology. Mrs. Simpson and her family are also avid space and aviation enthusiasts. She and her husband both have a pilot’s license and own a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver. Their daughter, Captain Anne Simpson, is a Boeing 747 pilot for Northwest Airlines.
Space Adventures, the only company to have successfully launched private tourists to the International Space Station, is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia with an office in Moscow, Russia. It offers a variety of programs such as Zero Gravity, MiG flights, cosmonaut training, space flight qualification programs and reservations on future suborbital spacecrafts. The company’s advisory board comprises Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin; shuttle astronauts Kathy Thornton, Robert (Hoot) Gibson, Charles Walker, Norm Thagard, Sam Durrance and Byron Lichtenberg; and Skylab astronaut Owen Garriott.
