Katy Perry completes space flight with all-female crew
Katy Perry has completed a space flight aboard Blue Origin among an all-female crew.
On Monday, a crew of six including Perry, author Lauren Sanchez, who is dating the Blue Origin owner Jeff Bezos; TV host Gayle King; civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen; former rocket scientist Aisha Bowe; and filmmaker Kerianne Flynn, took off from Blue Origin’s Launch Site One in West Texas.
Their flight lasted around 11 minutes, soaring 100 kilometers above the Earth – enough to officially enter space.
The crew were heard screaming in excitement and marveling at the sighs they could see before they landed in a “picture-perfect” landing back on Earth.
Prior to taking off, the 40-year-old singer gave fans a behind-the-scenes look at the capsule that was set to carry her into space.
Perry took to Instagram to share a first glimpse inside the capsule, showing off the tight-knit space that will house all six women during the flight.
“I think I’m gonna sing,” she said in the video. “I’ve got to sing in space!” She added: “These are all of my astronaut girly friends,” as she panned the camera across the capsule’s interior.
Ahead of today’s latest mission, concerns about the safety of the Blue Origin capsule had reemerged.
Back in 2021, a group of 21 current and former employees raised alarms about the safety of the New Shepard rocket used for suborbital flights like this one.
“In the opinion of an engineer who has signed on to this essay, ‘Blue Origin has been lucky that nothing has happened so far,’” the employees wrote in a letter published by Business Insider. “Many of this essay’s authors say they would not fly on a Blue Origin vehicle.”
While space flight remains one of the riskiest modes of transportation, with approximately one percent of US space flights resulting in fatalities, Blue Origin defended the integrity of its program in response.
“We stand by our safety record and believe that New Shepard is the safest space vehicle ever designed or built,” the company said at the time.
The company’s safety record was further tested in August 2022 when an unmanned rocket suffered an engine nozzle malfunction, forcing the capsule to abort mid-flight and parachute to safety. The incident led to a temporary grounding of flights.
Despite the concerns, Perry had revealed she was placing her faith in a higher power.
On Instagram, she shared an emotional story about her connection to the capsule’s design and reflected on what she believes are signs from the universe confirming her decision to go to space.
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