Celebrities in Space

In February, Blue Origin announced its first all-female spaceflight crew. The mission is set to take place this spring, with the exact date yet to be announced.

What is Blue Origin?

Blue Origin is an aerospace company founded by Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos in 2000. According to their website, the company prides itself on reducing the cost of traditional space travel by reusing their rockets, thus also making it a more sustainable company.

Given that they are a private space tourism company, people can even purchase a ticket to go to space simply by filling out the application on the company’s website, with a $150,000 refundable deposit, of course!

Blue Origin’s Mission is…

We envision a future where millions of people will live and work in space with a single-minded purpose: to restore and sustain Earth, our blue origin. – Jeff Bezos

The First Ever All-Female Blue Origin Spaceflight

What makes Blue Origin’s next mission special is that not only will it be the company’s first flight with only females on board, but it also will be composed of notable A-listers.

On board the flight will be singer-songwriter, Katy Perry, journalist Gayle King, NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, bioastronautics research scientist Amanda Nguyen, philanthropist and producer Kerianne Flynn and journalist and Bezos’ fiancée, Lauren Sánchez.

This flight will be aboard the New Shepard rocket, it will be the vessel’s 11th spaceflight. This mission will be the first all-female spaceflight since 1963, when Valentina Tereshkova traveled to space.

For decades, women have been discouraged from heading to space due to the antiquated stigma surrounding women and menstruation.

“Women were actually barred from becoming astronauts at NASA early on [because] of menstruation. But they didn’t have the data to back that up.” – Amanda Nguyen

Nguyen recently appeared on CBS Mornings, a talk show hosted by fellow crewmate Gayle King. On the broadcast, she shared that as a scientist, she hopes to conduct research on menstruation and how it could or could not affect women in space. Additionally, she spoke about the representation she will be creating in space.

“I’m so proud to be [the] first Vietnamese woman in space.” – Amanda Nguyen

To Wrap It Up

A journey on the New Shepard rocket lasts roughly 11 minutes. Onboard the vessel, there are windows around the vessel, allowing for each crewmate to have a view of outer space. During the mission, they will have the opportunity to get out of their seats and experience weightlessness.

This mission is sure to make history and show that anyone can go to space, regardless of gender, race or ethnicity.

“…I can show all of the youngest and most vulnerable among us to reach for the stars, literally and figuratively. I am honored to be among this diverse group of celestial sisters.” – Katy Perry

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