All-Female Blue Origin Crew Launches Stars Into Space – ryan

Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket has successfully lifted off from its West Texas launchpad and landed. Katy Perry, broadcast journalist Gayle King, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, bioastronautics researcher Amanda Nguyen, and film producer Kerianne Flynn have successfully launched into space and returned.

What to Know:

• Blue Origin’s NS-31 mission, with no pilot, launched successfully today.
• This was the first all-female crew since 1963 when Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space.
• Critics have raised concerns about the space tourism industry’s exclusivity and environmental impact.

This live blog is now closed, but check out our coverage of the event below.

What Katy Perry has said about going to space

Katy Perry is headed to space aboard the first all-female flight since 1963, accompanied by other celebrities in a zero-gravity flight at the top of the Earth’s atmosphere.

The pop star has said that the universe gave her “confirmations” that the trip, managed by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, was the right thing to do.

In March, Blue Origin announced that their April 14 trip would feature an all-female crew and passenger list. Bezos’ fiancée, journalist Lauren Sánchez, organized a list of women to take the trip, including Katy Perry, TV host Gayle King, engineer Aisha Bowe, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen and film producer Kerianne Flynn.

In an interview with Elle, Perry said that she was excited about the trip, and that she had been looking for a way to go into space for a while.

“I don’t have any time to be nervous; I don’t have time to be worried,” she said. “I’m going to feel something when they go, ’10, 9, 8, 7,…’ but until then, we’ve got stuff to do. We’ve got business to handle.”

Describing her initial reaction to the offer from Sánchez, Perry said: “I was like, ‘What am I going to wear?’ But seriously, I have wanted to go to space for almost 20 years. I was investigating all of the possible commercial options.

Read the full story by Theo Burman on Newsweek.