Katy Perry joins all-female crew for Blue Origin spaceflight
- Blue Origin has announced that Katy Perry, Gayle King, and Lauren Sanchez will join an all-female crew for a 10-minute spaceflight.
- The flight, scheduled for this spring, will reach an altitude over 65 miles above Earth.
- This mission continues Blue Origin's efforts to promote civilian space travel and is part of a broader trend of celebrities engaging in space explorations.
In the United States, Katy Perry, renowned singer, is set to embark on a space journey alongside a select group of influential women, including TV host Gayle King and helicopter pilot Lauren Sanchez. The launch will be managed by Blue Origin, the aerospace manufacturer and spaceflight services company founded by Jeff Bezos. This is positioned to be Blue Origin's 11th human spaceflight, marking a continuation of their trend since 2021 of sending civilians on short journeys into space. The upcoming flight, though lacking a confirmed date, is anticipated to take place in the spring and will last approximately ten minutes, reaching an altitude of around 65 miles above the Earth. This brief experience is designed to showcase the thrill of weightlessness and give participants a fleeting glimpse of space, surpassing the Kármán line, which is recognized as the boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space, set at 62 miles. The six-person crew was curated by Lauren Sanchez, who is not only a former TV journalist but also the fiancée of Jeff Bezos. The selection includes notable figures from various fields: Amanda Nguyen, who has been a prominent civil rights activist; Kerianne Flynn, a film producer; Aisha Bowe, a former NASA rocket scientist; and of course, the iconic Katy Perry, all of whom represent the growing push towards female representation in fields of science and technology. Katy Perry's involvement particularly is noteworthy as she gears up for her "Lifetimes Tour," slated to begin on April 23, immediately following the anticipated launch. This event underscores a larger cultural moment, where celebrities are increasingly involved in commercial space travel, mirroring famous past voyages by actors and entrepreneurs like William Shatner and Michael Strahan on Blue Origin's previous missions. These celebrity trips serve not only as high-profile advertisements for commercial space travel but also reflect a burgeoning interest in the possibilities of human space exploration, fostering conversations around the future of space and its accessibility to non-astronauts. This mission highlights a significant shift in public engagement with space travel and aims to inspire future generations to consider careers in STEM fields.