Previous NASA Astronaut Finalist Prepares To Launch On Blue Origin's New Shepard

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For the eighth time, Blue Origin will launch a crew on a suborbital (up and down) spaceflight aboard its New Shepard spacecraft from its West Texas launch base. This mission, titled NS-26, will launch no earlier than 7 a.m. EDT on Thursday from Blue Origin's Launch Site One.

Nashville resident Jahangir, who was born in Tehran, Iran, will be joined by five others on the flight. For Jahangir this is an opportunity of a lifetime . The Tennessee cardiologist has long dreamed of space, and was twice a NASA astronaut finalist. He's associate professor of Medicine and Radiology and director of Cardio-Oncology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Jahangir did not come by this space opportunity in a traditional way. He won the seat in a contest from MoonDAO, a digital currency organization − becoming their second ambassador astronaut.

In a July post on X (formerly Twitter) MoonDAO wrote: "Eiman's journey from Tehran to Nashville, to becoming a cardiologist, and then winning the Ticket to Space contest a few months ago is nothing short of inspiring."

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Jahangir always wanted to be an astronaut, yet knew the chances were low. Instead, he focused on becoming a cardiologist.

He told FLORIDA TODAY that while finishing medical school, a trip to Kennedy Space Center on the Space Coast stirred something inside him. "What happened to that dream?" said Jahangir. Digging into NASA's astronaut qualifications, he realized his medical background qualified him to apply. He did, and then he got the call.

"I applied on just being like, 'Okay, well, I'm gonna give it a try'. I'll never count myself out. And I didn't think I'd ever get a call back," Jahangir said. "They asked me to come down for an interview. I was on cloud nine."

That was 2009, and it put Jahangir in the same NASA astronaut candidate group as Sian Proctor, who flew to space on SpaceX's Inspiration4, all civilian crew, in 2021 .