Katy Perry to Join Blue Origin’s First All-Women Spaceflight
Katy Perry will travel to space as part of Blue Origin’s first all-women flight on the New Shepard rocket.
The singer will be joined by Lauren Sanchez, fiancée of Blue Origin owner Jeff Bezos, CBS presenter Gayle King, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, and film producer Kerianne Flynn.
Blue Origin stated that this will be the first all-women spaceflight since Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova’s solo mission in 1963.
The launch is set to take place this spring, though an exact date has not been announced. Perry is scheduled to begin her Lifetimes Tour on 23 April, so the spaceflight is expected to occur before then.
"If you had told me I'd be part of the first all-female crew in space, I would have believed you. Nothing was beyond my imagination as a child," Perry said in a statement cited by Newsweek.
The NS-31 mission will mark the 11th human spaceflight for the New Shepard rocket and the 31st in its history. Blue Origin has launched 52 people into space so far.
A typical New Shepard flight lasts about 11 minutes. The fully autonomous spacecraft carries passengers past the Kármán line, the internationally recognised boundary of space.
Blue Origin credited Sanchez for organising the mission. In a press release, the company stated that she is "honoured to lead a team of explorers on a mission that will challenge their perspectives of Earth, empower them to share their own stories, and create lasting impact that will inspire generations to come."
Sanchez first revealed her plan to fly with an all-women crew in a 2023 interview with Vogue, saying they were "paving the way for women."
This mission adds to the growing list of celebrities who have travelled to space. Bezos flew on Blue Origin’s first manned mission in 2021, followed by Good Morning America co-host Michael Strahan and Star Trek actor William Shatner.
Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson also made a spaceflight aboard his company’s VSS Unity spacecraft in July 2021. However, SpaceX founder Elon Musk has yet to make a trip.
Katy Perry will join Blue Origin’s first all-women spaceflight.
The mission includes Lauren Sanchez, Gayle King, Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyen, and Kerianne Flynn.
The launch is scheduled for spring, before Perry’s tour begins on 23 April.
Source: BBC