CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — UNC professor and entrepreneur Jim Kitchen finally fulfilled his childhood wish of going into space. He was part of Blue Origin’s human space flight on March 31.


What You Need To Know

  • UNC professor Jim Kitchen says he thinks about his recent experience of going into space every day
  • Kitchen opens up about how he packed for his 10-minute space flight, which included stuffing stickers in his socks
  • Kitchen hopes his achievement inspires students to keep the dream alive, work hard and know that anything is possible


He’s visited all 193 countries on Earth that are recognized by the United Nations, but on top of that, now he’s an out-of-this-world traveler.

Kitchen’s prep for his flight to outer space demanded he get creative, finding enough space for his 10 U.S. passports.

“I stuffed nine in one pocket. And one in my other,” Kitchen said of his passports. “So I got all 10.”

There was no carry-on luggage, just the space suit now hanging in Kitchen’s office where everyone can see it.

“This is the suit that each crew member wore, with our names, our ceremonial patches,” Kitchen said. “Each crew has their own patch.”

And then Kitchen reveals a secret.

“I kept these socks as well because inside these socks, I didn’t have enough room inside my pockets for these because we were limited to three pounds of stuff, but I might have had eight to 10 pounds of stickers inside my socks.”

Kitchen and five other crew members were onboard as the Blue Origin space craft blasted off and climbed to 325,000 feet, 65 miles, above the Earth.

“I pretty much had the capsule all to my own because everyone was busy looking outside,” Kitchen said. “So I did a flip. I turned around and looked upside down out my window. Got my passport stamped ceremonially by one of my crew members, and then we all just basically took it in outside our window.”

Kitchen was in awe of what he saw outside his window.

“There behind me was the incredible blackness of the universe, our planet and a borderless, beautiful planet,” he recalled.

It’s been nearly a month since his journey beyond Earth’s atmosphere. He says he relives the experience every day.

“It’s still really emotional,” Kitchen said. “There are mornings that I wake up and I just ask myself, 'Did I really do that?'”“It’s still really emotional,” Kitchen said. “There are mornings that I wake up and I just ask myself, 'Did I really do that?'”

It has fulfilled a childhood dream and forever changed his life. His lessons from space are also something he hopes to carry into the classroom.

“To be able to share that with students, that keep the dream alive, keep hoping, working hard and that anything is possible,” Kitchen said. “And just to push through boundaries, and for me, space was one of my biggest boundaries to date.”

Kitchen also hopes to inspire everyday Americans in the community and beyond.

“A teacher from North Carolina, an everyday entrepreneur, an everyday Joe, an everyday Jim, can go to space. If someone like me can go, it’s not going to be long until space travel is affordable and accessible to everyone,” he said.

Kitchen also took a basketball signed by Michael Jordan and Coach Dean Smith up to space. He had to deflate it so that it could fit into the small Blue Origin bag that each crew member gets to take onboard.

Kitchen says he plans to auction it off and give those proceeds to the UNC entrepreneurship community.