When Make-A-Wish San Diego asked six-year-old Aegis what he wanted his wish to be he responded by looking at the family’s ‘Alexa’ and said ‘Alexa, what is the furthest planet in the universe?’
After Alexa responded he joyfully looked up at his wish granters and said ‘I want to be an astronaut.’
Aegis began his wish day by walking into Command Central where he was welcomed with a 100-foot digital wall sprawled out spelling ‘WELCOME AEGIS’ and his very own team of astronauts dressed up to escort him on his special mission. In the “control room”, our astronaut excitedly pressed every button and asked many intuitive space questions. Once he moved into the virtual viewing room, the family had special seating for Aegis’ space journey. Aegis got to sit in a rocketship chair as he spoke to members of the Virgin Galactic team in New Mexico. The tour consisted of meeting a flight surgeon, astronaut, and even the space port’s barista. Aegis beamed as he asked his anticipated questions for their team, “How many books do you need to read before you can go to space? Do they do surgery in space? How much exercise do astronauts do in space and what kind?” Aegis was in awe to hear that there are treadmills in space and that even astronauts drink milk, Aegis’ favorite beverage.
To close out the tour, The Virgin Galactic Team tasked Aegis with a crucial mission: select an important item of his that will be sent up to space on their next mission.
Aegis’ wish day was an accumulation of many different community partners that quite literally reached for the stars in making his wish become a reality.
