Importance Score: 45 / 100 🔵
Jessica Alba Backs All-Female Space Mission, Deflects Criticism Towards Trump
Actress Jessica Alba has voiced her support for the all-female Blue Origin spaceflight, a mission that has sparked considerable debate. Instead of focusing criticism on the astronauts, Alba is encouraging her followers to direct their disapproval towards former President Donald Trump.
Celebrity Space Voyage Draws Mixed Reactions
Earlier this week, a team of prominent women, including singer Katy Perry, broadcaster Gayle King, and Lauren Sánchez, fiancée of Jeff Bezos, embarked on a suborbital journey aboard Blue Origin’s spacecraft. They were accompanied by Amanda Nguyen, an astronaut and bioastronautics expert, Aisha Bowe, a NASA rocket scientist, and filmmaker Kerianne Flynn.
The brief, 11-minute space voyage ignited a wave of negative reactions. Numerous figures in the public eye, along with social media users and even commercial brands, publicly questioned the value of the trip and voiced concerns regarding its environmental impact.
Alba Defends Mission, Amplifies Political Message
Amidst the ongoing controversy, Jessica Alba used her Instagram Story platform on Wednesday to communicate with her 21 million followers. The founder of Honest Beauty shared a message initially posted by political analyst Ana Navarro-Cárdenas, which urged individuals to channel their energy into “denouncing” the former President.
“Direct Anger Appropriately”
Navarro-Cárdenas’s message, reposted by Alba, stated: “I’ve seen endless criticisms of 5 women doing their space thing, I can’t see how it affects our lives.” Alba added “THIS” above the shared post, emphasizing her agreement.
The message continued, advocating for a shift in focus: “I wish people would show same energy & focus that anger towards fearlessly denouncing Trump’s abuses of power, which do affect countless lives in the US and the world.”
Defense Amidst Widespread Condemnation
Alba, known for her close relationship with Lauren Sánchez, stands out as one of the few celebrities publicly defending the space venture. In contrast, several high-profile personalities, including Amy Schumer, Olivia Wilde, Emily Ratajkowski, and Olivia Munn, have utilized social media to express their disapproval of the spaceflight.
King Responds to Critics
The intense backlash prompted Gayle King to publicly address the criticism, suggesting a double standard may be at play for the all-female crew compared to their male counterparts who have previously ventured into space.
“It Was a Flight, Not a Ride”
“Have you been?” King questioned critics directly. She also objected to the use of the term “ride” to describe the spaceflight, asserting that this descriptor is not typically applied to men’s space travels.
“We duplicated the same trajectory that Alan Shepard did back in the day, pretty much. No one called that a ‘ride,’” the CBS personality explained. “It was called a flight, it was called a journey.”
Justifying the Mission’s Purpose
King further defended the mission’s significance, stating, “There was nothing frivolous about what we did. I’m very disappointed and very saddened by it. And I also say this, what it’s doing to inspire other women and young girls, please don’t ignore that.”
Addressing environmental concerns, King relayed that Bezos’s Blue Origin initiative aims to explore the potential of using rockets to remove waste from Earth into space, with the goal of “making our planet cleaner.”
“Space is a ‘Both/And'”
“Space is not an either/or. It’s a both/and. And because you do something in space doesn’t mean you’re taking anything away from Earth,” King contended.
Historic All-Female Crew
This team of accomplished women marked the first all-female group to travel to space since Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova’s solo mission in 1963, highlighting a significant moment in space exploration history.