A popstar, a journalist, a civil rights activist, rocket scientist and filmmaker are heading into space. And the mission is being led by Lauren Sanchez, an author and the fiance of Amazon’s Jeff Bezos.
Katy Perry gears up for spaceflightIt’s been more than 60 years since a woman travelled into space without a man. And now six of them are blasting off from Earth.
Popstar Katy Perry, author Lauren Sanchez, journalist and TV presenter Gayle King, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, former rocket scientist Aisha Bowe and filmmaker Kerianne Flynn are due to launch in Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket on Monday.
It will be the latest flight of the New Shepard programme, named NS-31, and is aiming to “create a lasting impact that will inspire generations”, with the women forming the first all-female crew since Russian engineer Valentina Tereshkova’s solo flight to space in 1963.
The trip is only expected to last around 11 minutes, with the reusable self-driving rocket taking off from Launch Site One in West Texas, at 8.30am local time (2.30pm BST) on Monday.
It will reach a maximum height of 100km (62 miles) above Earth, with the women technically entering space as the capsule crosses the Karman line, which is internationally recognised as the boundary of space.
They will not, however, be classed as astronauts by the Federal Aviation Administration, NASA or US military, which all have different eligibility requirements for people to become commercial astronauts.
While in space, the crew will have about four minutes of weightlessness to float around and take in the views of Earth from the capsule’s large windows.
The crew capsule will then descend back to Earth using three parachutes.
So far, 52 people have been taken into space as part of billionaire and Amazon chief Mr Bezos’s programme, including the man himself, who joined the New Shepard’s maiden voyage in 2021.
Star Trek actor William Shatner became the oldest person in space when he joined the mission at the age of 90.
How the crew was picked
Mr Bezos’ fiancee is leading the mission. Sanchez told Elle magazine she chose her fellow crew members because each had “proven their ability to inspire others”.
She said all the women will be able to spread the word on what they felt like during the trip, and also expand on ideas of what the next generation of space explorers will look like.
Perry, who is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, told Elle that she has been wanting to go to space for almost 20 years, so it was a no-brainer when she got the call.
She said: “Even when Blue Origin was first talking about commercial travel to space, I was like, ‘Sign me up! I’m first in line’. And then they called me, and I was like, ‘Really? I get an invite?’.”
