Brandon Lazard will graduate from UCLA this year with a master’s in space physics. (Credit: composite by Trever Ducote/UCLA)

Brandon Lazard, who will graduate from UCLA in June with a master’s in space physics, is all about the love. Take, for example, his answer when asked about the polarizing Blue Origin space flight.

“I have a lot of complicated feelings about that venture, but the most important part for me is that one of the people aboard was Amanda Nguyen,” he said. “She always wanted to go into space but when her rights were stripped away, she responded by becoming an advocate and activist who helped so many people. The fact that she finally achieved her goal is the highlight we should all be talking about.”

In fact, Lazard shares both Nguyen’s commitment to social justice as well as her dream — he, too, hopes to be an astronaut who makes a difference.

“I want to go to space to be an advocate that space is for everyone, not just the rich or people who look a certain way,” Lazard said. “We need to change the Cold War-era ‘space race’ mode of thinking where countries vie for scientific progress in terms of power.”

Read the whole story at the UC Newsroom

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