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Celebrity Spaceflight: Katy Perry and All-Female Crew Soar with Blue Origin
Pop icon Katy Perry and five other women have successfully returned to Earth after a suborbital spaceflight aboard Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin New Shepard rocket. This space tourism mission marks a significant moment for commercial space travel and featured a crew composed entirely of women. The flight included Bezos’s fiancée Lauren Sánchez and CBS broadcaster Gayle King.
Flight Highlights and Crew Reactions
Broadcaster Gayle King recounted that a memorable moment during the Blue Origin journey was hearing Katy Perry perform Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World.” Upon returning to Earth, Perry expressed feeling deeply “connected to life” and “so connected to love.”
The suborbital flight lasted approximately 11 minutes, reaching an altitude exceeding 100km (62 miles). This ascent surpassed the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary of space, providing the passengers with a brief period of weightlessness.
Diverse Crew Members
Alongside Perry, Sánchez, and King, the crew included:
- Aisha Bowe: Former NASA rocket scientist
- Amanda Nguyen: Civil rights activist
- Kerianne Flynn: Film producer
The New Shepard spacecraft launched from the West Texas site at approximately 08:30 local time (14:30 BST).
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The capsule made a parachute-assisted landing back on Earth, while the rocket booster also executed a controlled landing in Texas, demonstrating the reusable nature of the New Shepard system.
Post-Flight Excitement and Ground Reactions
Cheers erupted from within the capsule as the recovery team approached. Jeff Bezos personally opened the capsule hatch, welcoming Lauren Sánchez back as the first to exit.
“I’m so proud of this crew,” Sánchez stated, overcome with emotion. “I can’t put it into words.” She paused before adding, “I looked out of the window and we got to see the moon.”
“Earth looked so quiet,” she observed, noting it was different from her expectations. “It was quiet, but really alive.”
Katy Perry followed, kissing the ground and raising a daisy to the sky, a nod to her daughter, named Daisy.
Gayle King also knelt and kissed the ground, expressing, “I just want to have a moment with the ground, just appreciate the ground for just a second.”
Kerianne Flynn, the final crew member to disembark, gestured to the sky and exclaimed, “I went to space.”
Celebrity Observers
A group of celebrities watched the launch from the ground. Khloé Kardashian, speaking from the viewing platform, commented, “I didn’t realise how emotional it would be, it’s hard to explain. I have all this adrenaline and I’m just standing here.”
“Whatever you dream of is in our reach, especially in today’s day and age. Dream big, wish for the stars—and one day, you could maybe be amongst them,” she added.
Oprah Winfrey discussed her friend Gayle King’s participation, revealing King’s nervousness about flying. “Anytime we’re on a flight, she’s in somebody’s lap at the slightest bit of turbulence. She has real, real-world anxiety when it comes to flying. And this… this is her overcoming a wall of fear,” Winfrey explained.
Autonomous Spacecraft and Historical Context
The New Shepard spacecraft operates autonomously, requiring no pilots and no manual operation by the crew.
Blue Origin highlighted that the previous all-female spaceflight occurred over 60 years ago when Soviet Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space on Vostok 6. While no subsequent all-female missions have taken place, women have since made substantial contributions to space exploration.
The nascent space tourism sector sees each successful launch as vital, demonstrating the safety and feasibility of short, commercial spaceflights.
Criticism and Defense of Space Tourism
Despite successes, space tourism faces criticism centered on its focus on tourism rather than scientific advancement, contrasting with professional astronaut missions dedicated to research for humanity’s benefit.
Dr. Kai-Uwe Schrogl, special advisor at the European Space Agency, stated, “A celebrity isn’t an envoy of humankind – they go into space for their own reasons.” He added, “These flights are significant and exciting, but I think maybe they can also be a source of frustration for space scientists,” emphasizing the scientific perspective of space exploration versus entertainment.
In a post-flight press conference, Gayle King and Lauren Sánchez addressed some criticisms, particularly regarding mission costs. King asserted, “I feel that anybody who is criticising doesn’t really understand what’s happening here,” noting the positive impact on young women and girls.
Sánchez expressed her strong disagreement with the criticism and invited detractors to Blue Origin to witness the dedication of thousands of employees involved in these missions.
Blue Origin and Space Tourism Industry
Founded in 2000 by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin is a private space company expanding space industry access. While full ticket prices remain undisclosed, a $150,000 deposit to reserve a seat indicates the exclusivity of these initial flights.
Beyond suborbital tourism, Blue Origin is developing long-term space infrastructure, including reusable rockets like New Shepard and lunar landing systems.
The New Shepard rocket’s reusability, with the booster returning for vertical landings, aims to reduce flight costs, making space more accessible in the future.
Blue Origin’s passenger training spans two days, concentrating on physical conditioning, emergency procedures, safety protocols, and zero-gravity adaptation.
Support personnel, termed Crew Member Seven, provide continuous astronaut guidance and maintain control room communication during missions.
Environmental Concerns and Sustainability
The rise of space tourism has raised concerns about exclusivity and potential environmental impacts.
Proponents argue that private space ventures accelerate innovation and broaden space access. Professor Brian Cox stated in 2024, “Our civilisation needs to expand beyond our planet,” advocating for NASA and commercial space firm collaboration.
However, rocket engine exhaust contains substances that can negatively impact Earth’s climate and ozone layer.
Blue Origin states, “During flight, the only byproduct of New Shepard’s engine combustion is water vapor with no carbon emissions,” on its “Protecting our Planet” webpage.
Eloise Marais, Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry at University College London, clarifies that water vapor is also a greenhouse gas, not naturally found in upper atmospheric layers.
“It alters the chemistry of the stratosphere, depleting the ozone layer, and also forms clouds that affect climate,” Professor Marais explained, highlighting the environmental complexities.
Experts warn of increasing ozone layer damage risks as rocket launches become more frequent.
Space Tourism Cost and Accessibility
The substantial cost of space tourism limits accessibility, rendering these ventures unattainable for most individuals. Actress Olivia Munn, among others, has criticized the venture’s optics, questioning the prioritization of spaceflights when many struggle with basic living costs during an appearance on Today with Jenna & Friends.