AISHA Bowe’s journey has been a long one.

She is an engineer. A rocket scientist. An entrepreneur. An expert advisor. And today she is scheduled to do what no Bahamian has ever done before. She will go into space.

Aisha was born in Michigan but has Bahamian roots. Her family had a farm in Andros and when she talked to Tribune Woman in 2012 about her astronaut ambitions, she also talked about Bahamian culture.

She would routinely return to The Bahamas at Christmas and during summer breaks – and she told The Tribune about how she would be “jonsing” for hot patties and fresh coconut tarts.

Her father, Glenroy Anthony Bowe, comes from Andros, and her mother, Forester Bowe, is from Exuma.

And she has spoken of how she was encouraged by her grandfather, Forrester Bowe, who came up with the funds to help make her internship at NASA possible.

Today, she is due to be part of the crew for a flight to space by Blue Origin, founded by Amazon creator Jeff Bezos.

She will be joined on the mission by CBS broadcaster Gayle King, singer Katy Perry, Kerianne Flynn, Lauren Sanchez and Amanda Nguyen. For Aisha, it will break boundaries. For Blue Origin, it will make its own bit of history – the company says it is the first all-female flight crew since the solo flight of Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova in 1963.

The mission is part of the company’s New Shepard programme, carrying the ship’s occupants above the altitude at which outer space begins, 62 miles above the Earth.

Over the years, Aisha has been a frequent visitor to The Bahamas, calling into classrooms to encourage students to follow their own dreams, and encouraging the study of science, technology and mathematics.

On her website, she says: “I hope my story will inspire you to break boundaries and reach for the stars!”

She also says if she had followed her guidance counsellor’s advice she would have ended up as a cosmetologist – exploring cosmetics rather than the cosmos.

Today’s mission is due to take-off from Texas at 9.30am our time. It can be viewed on the Blue Origin website, with a livestream starting 90 minutes before lift-off.

After launch, the booster will land about seven and a half minutes after takeoff, while the capsule and crew will parachute down a few minutes later. In all, the mission will last about 11 minutes.

In those 11 minutes, Aisha will break barriers. And she will be hoping it will encourage others to do so too.