Blue Origin’s NS-31 mission completed a historic journey into space, carrying an all-female crew to the edge of the atmosphere, including entertainment reporter and tycoon Jeff Bezos’ partner, Lauren Sanchez, journalist Gaylor King, singer Katy Perry and aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe.
The New Shepard crew capsule, designed with large windows so that tourists can see Earth from space, lifted off at 10:00 AM outside El Paso, Texas. Bezos greeted her as she touched down at around 10:00 a.m.
Monday’s flight was the second all-female mission in history; the first woman to travel solo into space was Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova on the Soviet Vostok 6 mission in 1963.
Bezos, the world’s second-richest person and owner of e-commerce giant Amazon, has been promoting space tourism with Blue Origin, selling experiences for $250,000 per ticket.
The New Shepard spacecraft was designed specifically for this purpose. It made its first commercial flight into space in July 2021.
After landing, Bezos opened the capsule door, and Sanchez was the first passenger to exit. The billionaire greeted her with a kiss and a hug.
“We’re all in this together. That’s all I can think about. We’re so connected, more connected than we realize,” Sanchez said as she stepped out of the space capsule.
Behind her, the other five crew members emerged one by one. Singer Katy Perry knelt down on the dry land of West Texas as she exited the spacecraft, and journalist Gayle King did the same.
“I feel incredibly connected to love; this experience has shown me that you never know how much love you have inside you, how much love you have to give, and how much love you’ll have until the day you launch,” Perry said.
Also on board were Amanda Nguyen, a researcher and activist on gender-based violence, and filmmaker Kerrian Flynn.
To show their support and emphasize the historic nature of the launch, Kris Jenner, Khloe Kardashian, and broadcaster Oprah Winfrey were at the Texas launch site.
The crew members reached zero gravity three minutes after liftoff and shortly after crossed the Karman Line, the boundary between the atmosphere and space.
It was the 12th mission for the Blue Shepard rocket. The rocket that carried them into space briefly returned to the launch pad at 7:20 a.m. and landed vertically, with the capsule touching down 10 minutes after liftoff.
