Lauren Sánchez and Katy Perry embarked on a space journey aboard a Blue Origin rocket on Monday. Katy Perry performed a song during the flight, though it was challenging to hear. Here are the details about the New Shepard 31 flight and crew:
Lauren Sánchez, Katy Perry, and a group of inspiring women traveled to space on Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket. The women were part of the NS-31 mission, the 31st launch of the New Shepard program, originating from Texas.
The six-person crew, including TV host Gayle King, took off at 8:30 a.m. CT. The rocket accelerated to three times the speed of sound, and shortly after launch, the crew capsule detached, reaching 62 miles above the Earth’s surface at the Kármán line, marking the boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and space.
Experiencing a few minutes of weightlessness, the crew then descended back to Earth, landing safely using parachutes around 11 minutes after liftoff. Lauren Sánchez curated the NS-31 crew selection. The crew featured Sánchez, Katy Perry, Gayle King, Amanda Nguyen, Aisha Bowe, and Kerianne Flynn.
The crew’s fashionable spacesuits were designed by Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim of Oscar de la Renta and Monse, in collaboration with Creative Character Engineering. Katy Perry, referring to the crew as “The Taking Up Space Crew,” sang during the flight, performing “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong as a tribute to the collective energy and the beauty of the Earth.
This marked the first all-female space crew since 1963, with Amanda Nguyen being the first Vietnamese woman in space. The crew aimed to inspire and pave the way for future female explorers.
According to a post on Instagram, n announced plans to conduct various experiments related to women’s health and plants during a short flight with Blue Origin. The company, founded by Jeff Bezos, has been offering space tourism flights since 2021. While the cost of a space flight is not publicly disclosed, applicants are required to pay a $150,000 refundable deposit. In 2021, a seat for Blue Origin’s inaugural flight was auctioned for $28 million. Additionally, it was revealed in 2022 that a board member of the nonprofit Foundation for the Future paid $1 million for a seat on a Blue Origin flight. Notably, Blue Origin has seen interest from celebrities like William Shatner, known for his role in “Star Trek.” For more information, refer to the original article on Business Insider.
