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Vanessa O'Brien

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Vanessa O'Brien
Vanessa O'Brien in 2015
Born (1964-12-02) 2 December 1964 (age 60)
Grosse Pointe, Michigan, U.S.
NationalityBritish and American
Alma materNew York University Stern School of Business
Known forExtreme tourism
Websitewww.vobonline.com
Space career
Blue Origin Sub-orbital spaceflight Participant
Flight time
10 minutes, 20 seconds
MissionsBlue Origin NS-22
Mission insignia

Vanessa Audi Rhys O'Brien (born 2 December 1964) is an extreme tourist and former business executive.[1][2] On 12 June 2020, O'Brien became the first woman to reach Earth's highest and lowest points.[3] She is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) and an Honorary Advisory Member of The Scientific Exploration Society (SES).[4] She set a Guinness World Record for climbing the highest peak on every continent in 295 days, the fastest time by a woman.[5]

Early life

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Vanessa Audi Rhys O'Brien was born on 2 December 1964 and grew up in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. O'Brien received her Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Executive MBA in Finance from New York University Stern School of Business.[6] Vanessa O'Brien was named one of the Top 10 most famous NYU Stern MBA's in 2021.[7] O'Brien worked as a Director of Finance and Business Development for Morgan Stanley, Barclays Bank, and the Bank of America.[8][9]

Extreme tourism

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Having trekked to Mount Everest base camp and reached the summits of a number of notable mountains, including five of the world's fourteen 8,000-meter peaks (Shishapangma, Everest, Cho Oyu, Manaslu, and K2), including summiting two eight thousanders back-to-back just 8 days apart (Shishapangma and Cho Oyu), O'Brien decided to build on her passion for mountaineering and set herself the challenge of achieving the Explorers Grand Slam.[10] The Explorers Grand Slam entails reaching the Seven Summits, the North and South Poles, as well as meeting the Three Pole Challenge.[11] She became the first American woman to climb K2 and the first British[12][13][14] woman to climb K2 and return safely, successfully leading a team of 12 members to the summit and back on her third attempt.[15][16][17]

O'Brien joined Caladan Oceanic's Ring of Fire expedition to the Pacific Ocean to survey the bottom of the three pools that constitute Challenger Deep in partnership with NOAA.[18] On 12 June 2020, Victor Vescovo and O'Brien descended to the "Eastern Pool" of Challenger Deep spending three hours mapping the bottom, with the dive scanning approximately one mile of desolate bottom terrain, finding that the surface is not flat, as once was thought, but sloping, and by about 18 ft (5.5 m), subject to verification.[19]

O'Brien flew aboard Blue Origin NS-22, receiving FAA human spaceflight recognition, on 4 August 2022.[20][21] For the sixth time in its 20-year history, Blue Origin successfully launched humans on a sub-orbital spaceflight on the New Shepard 22 mission. The five humans that flew with O'Brien included Coby Cotton, Mário Ferreira, Clint Kelly III, Sara Sabry, and Steve Young, flying to a height of 107 km above Mean Sea Level (351,232 ft MSL). The crew endured 3,603 km/h (2,239 mph) during ascent and flew for a total of 10 minutes and 20 seconds.[22] This was the first spaceflight of Blue Origin involving two female crew members, and Vanessa O'Brien carried the UN Women's flag.[23] She became the first woman to complete the Explorers' Extreme Trifecta – reaching extremes on land, sea, and air after she passed the Kármán line as part of Blue Origin NS-22 spaceflight.[23]

After taking the American Red Cross flag to the North Pole in 2013,[11] O'Brien completed the Boston Marathon in 2017 to help the American Red Cross raise over $512,000 for charity.[24][25] O'Brien has also skied the last 60 nautical miles or 111 km to the South Pole and North Pole completing the Explorers Grand Slam in 11 months,[26][27] becoming the first woman to do so in under a calendar year and the 8th woman in the world to accomplish this.[28]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Tyler, Steven. "From Turning Point to Highest Point". New York University. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  2. ^ "First Woman to Reach Earth's Highest and Lowest Points Carries Pakistan's Flag". World News TV United Kingdom. 16 June 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  3. ^ "Explorer becomes first woman to reach Earth's highest and lowest points". MSN. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  4. ^ "On Top Of The World" (PDF). Vanessa O'Brien, FRGS. Winged Foot Magazine.
  5. ^ "Mountaineering" (PDF). Guinness Book of World Records 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  6. ^ Bruno, Teresa (11 December 2020). "The Graduate: Vanessa O'Brien". The Stern Opportunity. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  7. ^ Cook, Shannon (8 July 2021). "NYU Notable Alumni 10 Famous MBAs From NYU Stern". Business Because. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  8. ^ "Boston woman tackles peaks at a record pace". Boston Globe. April 2013. Archived from the original on 2 February 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  9. ^ "Boston College Club Woman Vanessa O'Brien to Become the First Woman to Complete the Explorer's Grand Slam". clubcorp.com. January 2013. Archived from the original on 25 August 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  10. ^ "Vanessa O'Brien: What Attracted me was the Goal". myfoxla.com. May 2013.
  11. ^ a b "Loren's Badass Chick of the Week: Vanessa O'Brien". 1033ampradio.cbslocal.com. May 2013. Archived from the original on 4 December 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  12. ^ "Hero mountain climber visits British High Commission". Diplomatic News Agency (DNA) News. 15 August 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  13. ^ Starkey, Jerome. "Mountaineers' first woman leader at the summit after bitter struggle". The Times. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  14. ^ Clash, James. "New peaks to climb". Forbes. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  15. ^ Pokhrel, Rajan (28 July 2017). "Vanessa O'Brien, John Snorri set record as 12 scale Mt K2". The Himalayan Times. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  16. ^ "Vanessa O'Brien becomes the first British-American woman to climb K2". Dunya News. 14 February 2008. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  17. ^ Samaa Web Desk. "British-American woman conquers K2, holds Pakistan flag atop". Samaa TV. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  18. ^ Allen, Monica (7 April 2020). "NOAA teams with pioneering explorer to understand and map the deepest parts of the ocean". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  19. ^ Whitelocks, Sadie (16 June 2020). "Explorer becomes the first woman to reach the highest and lowest points on the planet". Metro UK. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  20. ^ "Blue Origin launches sixth New Shepard crewed suborbital flight". SpaceNews. 4 August 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  21. ^ "FAA Commercial Human Spaceflight Recognition". Federal Aviation Administration. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  22. ^ Desisto, Austin (6 August 2022). "NS-22 New Shepard". Everyday Astronaut. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  23. ^ a b Mitib, Ali. "British-American adventurer makes triple triumph of space, land and sea records". The Times. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  24. ^ "2017 Boston Marathon Results". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on 21 April 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  25. ^ "American Red Cross Massachusetts' Fundraiser: Team Red Cross 2017". Crowd Rise. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  26. ^ "Boston's Vanessa O'Brien Completes 'Explorers Grand Slam' in Record Time". Boston Globe. April 2013.
  27. ^ "Woman Completes Explorer's Grand Slam in Record Time". grindtv.com. May 2013. Archived from the original on 27 August 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  28. ^ "Seven Summits Climber Continues to the Ends of the Earth to Reach Goal". tomsonsafaris.com. March 2013. Archived from the original on 30 June 2013.
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