Katy Perry made a brief space trip this Monday, April 14, with an exclusively female crew, aboard the Blue Origin New Shepard rocket.
It is a historic moment that the space industry has just experienced: this Monday, April 14, a crew composed exclusively of women made a suborbital flight succeeded aboard the New Shepard rocket. Among them, the superstar of Pop Katy Perry, which took part in this symbolic mission orchestrated by Blue Origin, the company of billionaire Jeff Bezos.
A so nretour on earth, the star said: “It was the ultimate.“
The pop sensation said that experience has shown him that we “Never know how much love there is in itself, how much love we have to give and how loved one is loved“.
A short but striking flight
The rocket took off at 8:30 am local time (3.30 p.m. in Belgium), from western Texas. Completely automated, New Shepard took its six passengers more than 100 kilometers above sea level, crossing the famous Karman line, a symbolic border of space.
A few minutes after the launch, the capsule detached from the launcher to allow the crew to briefly float in weightlessness. An eleven minute experience in total, before a descent to Earth. The capsule landed gently using parachutes and a retropropulseur, around 8:41 am local time. The rocket, for its part, also succeeded in its return maneuver on a dedicated landing area.
A female crew with remarkable profiles
Alongside Katy Perry, five women with inspiring courses took place in the capsule. There was Lauren Sanchez, journalist and philanthrope, also companion of Jeff Bezos. The famous American presenter Gayle King, just entered her seventh decade, was also part of the trip. Aisha Bowe, a former NASA engineer, became the first woman of Bahamian origin to go to space. Amanda Nguyen, activist for women’s rights, marked history as the first Vietnamese woman to cross the Karman line. Finally, Kerianne Flynn, film producer, has had a dream nourished since childhood thanks to her passion for astronomy.
Together, they marked a symbolic stage in the history of the space conquest, since this flight is the very first 100 % female since that of Valentina Terechkova, alone in her Soviet capsule in 1963.
A dream for some, a message for all
This flight was much more than a technological adventure. For Katy Perry, it was a message for her daughter Daisy. “I am motivated more than ever to show him that women have to take up the place,” she said recently. A journey as personal as it is symbolic.
For her part, Amanda Nguyen took advantage of this unique moment to lead two scientific experiences, one on plants, the other on female health in weightlessness. A way to register this flight from a broader perspective than simple space tourism.
It was the 11th inhabited flight of Blue Origin, which has already transported 52 people in space, including celebrities like William Shatner. This new success strengthens the ambitions of Jeff Bezos’ company in the race for space tourism, while competition with Virgin Galactic and SpaceX remains intense.
Espace USA Katy Perry Jeff Bezos United States
