Blue Origin launch: History set to be made with an all-female crew launching into space this Monday. This high-profile mission includes pop star Katy Perry, TV personality Gayle King, Amazon’s fiancée Lauren Sánchez, NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, bioastronautics researcher Amanda Nguyen, and film producer Kerianne Flynn.
A Historic Flight to the Edge of Space
The launch will take place at 9:30 a.m. ET from Blue Origin’s Van Horn, Texas site aboard the New Shepard rocket, a suborbital spacecraft that will reach the Kármán line—the recognized boundary of space—at 62 miles above the Earth.
The all-female crew will use parachutes to return to the Texas desert after a brief spell of weightlessness. The entire flight will take about 10 minutes. This marks a significant milestone in space exploration as the first all-female crew since Valentina Tereshkova’s solo space voyage in 1963.
A Celebrity-Filled Line-Up
Among the astronauts are some of the biggest names in entertainment and science, including:
- Katy Perry: Pop sensation and space enthusiast.
- Gayle King: Co-host of “CBS Mornings”.
- Lauren Sánchez: Former journalist and fiancée of Jeff Bezos.
- Aisha Bowe: Former NASA rocket scientist.
- Amanda Nguyen: Bioastronautics research scientist.
- Kerianne Flynn: Movie producer.
With its eleventh crewed flight, Blue Origin is strengthening its position in the quickly expanding space tourism industry. Despite the fact that Blue Origin has previously transported well-known individuals like Michael Strahan and William Shatner, this mission is particularly noteworthy because of its all-female crew.
Space Tourism Reaches New Heights
Blue Origin designed the fully autonomous New Shepard system—named after Alan Shepard—to fly to and from suborbital space without a pilot onboard. The cost of a ticket aboard the New Shepard is not disclosed, but it’s believed to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars per passenger. However, it remains unclear whether the celebrity passengers have paid for this experience.
Gazing Up
Missions like this one are establishing the foundation for future commercial space travel as space tourism continues to expand. The trip on Monday is a reminder of the increasing interest in venturing beyond of Earth’s atmosphere and the possibility of even more innovative missions in the years to come.
Source: NBC News