14 hours Ago By Alexander Mitchell
An all-female spaceflight had not taken place since the early 1960s, but a group of driven women, alongside the support of Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin , decided to change that earlier this week. On Monday morning, a group of six celebrities took to outer space for a brief flight, the first of its kind in decades. A Blue Origin BE-4 rocket acceptance test failure prompts a look into Blue Origin's bright future.
This flight also demonstrated the capabilities of Blue Origin's new rocket, the New Shepard. The event made global headlines and highlighted the importance of continuing to develop spaceflight capabilities, and it also demonstrated how important it is to continue supporting women in the aerospace field. Blue Origin is a commercial spaceflight company launched in 2000 by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and it has conducted flights using multiple new rockets that it developed over the past two decades .
The Event Took Place Earlier This Week Blue Origin, a Jeff Bezos-founded spaceflight company, made the headlines earlier this week for continuing to break barriers in the world of space flight. In West Texas on Monday morning, Katy Perry and five other celebrities launched into space on a brief flight in Blue Origin's newest rocket, the New Shepard, which features a large passenger capsule. This flight was the first all-female spaceflight since the early 1960s.
Onboard the aircraft with Katy Perry was Gayle King, the host of CBS Morning, alongside Lauren Sanchez, a former journalist who is currently engaged to billionaire and company co-founder Jeff Bezos. In addition to these three, NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe was onboard alongside Amanda Nguyen, a bioastronautics research scientist. Lastly, Kerianne Flynn, a movie producer, was the final member of the onboard crew.
A high-profile crowd was present for the momentous launch, with many notable faces in attendance. These included Oprah Winfrey, NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps, and former astronaut Mae Jemison. In addition, celebrities Khloé Kardashian and Kris Jenner were also in attendance.
The rocket lifted off around 9:30 AM Eastern Time on Monday from Blue Origin's launch facility in Van Horn, Texas, according to reports from NBC News . The Flight Was Very Brief But Equally Momentous The flight itself only took around ten minutes. However, the six crew members were able to briefly cross the Karman Line, legally qualifying them as astronauts.
This invisible boundary is located around 62 miles above the surface of the Earth, and it is widely accepted by scientists as the boundary of outer space. While in outer space, Bowe, one of the six women onboard, held up a small patch representing the Bahamas as they flew far above the island nation itself. The women also did handstands and enjoyed the weightless feeling of gravity for a brief period.
Katy Perry, true to her roots as a musical artist, sang the iconic song "What a Wonderful World" while also holding up a daisy flower. In a statement, she shared as follows with the media: "Daisies are common flowers, but they grow through any condition. They are resilient.
They are powerful. They are strong." The flight itself went off without an operational hitch, a huge win for Blue Origin and its high-profile new rocket.
The new spacecraft features a reusable booster, which returned to Earth safely just a few miles from the launch site itself. The capsule made its own descent a bit later using parachutes, and it safely touched down in the Texas desert. The return to Earth was an emotional and jubilant moment for all six crew members.
Perry and King kissed the ground shortly after exiting the capsule and were seen fighting back tears after what was undoubtedly a transformative experience..
