Good News Friday: UNC-Chapel Hill student Karsen Kitchen just became the youngest woman ever in space

UNC-Chapel Hill student Karsen Kitchen flew to space Thursday on a Blue Origin rocket. Plus: College football’s back, and an intriguing new way to pass along good info. 

Optimism is smart. It’s better for us. It fuels us. And it leads to creation. Because it’s hard to make something good when you don’t believe that good is possible. 

That’s why, at Cardinal & Pine, we produce a weekly digest of good news in North Carolina. 

If anything, we hope these stories bring you joy and inspire you. 

‘One giant leap’ for one North Carolina student

A UNC-Chapel Hill student just became the youngest woman ever to travel into space. 

WRAL reported this week on the story of Karsen Kitchen, a 21-year-old from North Carolina who joined a Blue Origin crew on a flight past the Kármán line Thursday, which is the point separating the atmosphere from space. Watch the launch here. 

Kitchen is studying astronomy at UNC. Her father, a UNC professor, also went on a Blue Origin flight in 2022. 

Blue Origin is a private aerospace company founded by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos.

 

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NC organization spreads good health information the old-fashioned way – at the barber’s shop

A community event at a barbershop organized by Shackle Free Community Outreach Agency Credit: Shackle Free Community Outreach Agency

Word-of-mouth is powerful.

Anyone in communication knows that for a fact. We tend to trust regular people we know more than talking heads on television. That’s what makes this new program in eastern NC so intriguing. 

NC Health News reported this week on a group called Shackle Free Community Outreach Agency, which “helps train barbers and beauticians to share important information on vaccines and chronic disease prevention and treatment.”

They also pass along info about housing, food, and other local resources, Health News reports, and they’re active in five eastern counties — Duplin, Jones, Onslow, Pender and Sampson.

“You see them more often than you see a physician,” Lesene told NC Health News. “What we found out was, a lot of times, people share their health conditions to a trusted messenger — like their barber.”

What a cool idea.

 

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College football is back

Nothing quite says “autumn is almost here” like football. 

For North Carolina college football fans, the season kicked off Thursday night, with teams like NC State, UNC-Chapel Hill, Western Carolina, NC A&T, and Coastal Carolina playing. Duke’s season begins Friday at 7:30 pm against Elon. 

Western Carolina, in fact, was on track to pull off an upset against NC’s only ranked college football team, NC State, before the Wolfpack turned things around with a big fourth quarter. 

Check out the scores here. And best of luck to North Carolina’s teams.

 

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