Blue Origin flight live updates: Katy Perry and star-studded crew return from brief space launch
The first all-female trip to space in more than six decades launched from West Texas on Monday morning
Katy Perry and five other women successfully launched into space on Monday on the first all-female mission in more than six decades.
The crew lifted off on board an autonomous rocket made by Blue Origin, the private space firm owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
“I don’t really have words for it,” the billionaire’s fiancée Lauren Sanchez said in an interview following the flight. “Earth looked just so quiet.”
“It is the highest high and it is surrender to the unknown,” said Perry. “I couldn’t recommend this experience more.”
Perry and Sanchez were joined by CBS News host Gayle King, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, and film producer Kerianne Flynn.
The only other all-female crew in 64 years of human spaceflight took place in 1963.
The rocket lifted off as part of Blue Origin mission NS-31 at 8:30 a.m. local time. The craft flew through space for around four minutes before floating back down to Earth, with the entire journey taking a little over 10 minutes.
When in space, Perry sang the song “What a Wonderful World.”
“It was a feeling of joy. It was a feeling of gratefulness,” Sanchez added.
Amanda Nguyen becomes the first Vietnamese woman to fly to space
Activist Amanda Nguyen has become the first Vietnamese woman to fly to space.
“What justice feels like. I kept my promise. Touchdown,” she wrote in a social media post after returning to Earth.
Katy Perry reveals why she sang 'What a Wonderful World'
Lauren Sanchez and Gayle King hit back at criticism of Blue Origin flight: ‘I get really fired up’
Former NASA astronaut reacts after NS-31 mission: A 'beautiful experience'
“It’s a beautiful experience. I’m glad it all went well for them,” former NASA astronaut Michael Massimino told CNN on Monday.
“When you actually see it, it really can be life-changing,” he said of Earth.
Massimino served as a NASA astronaut from 1996 to 2014, flying in space twice and walking in space four times.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments