Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin launched his fiancee Lauren Sanchez to area Monday with an all-female superstar crew that included Katy Perry and Gayle King.
It was the newest wave in area tourism, the place extra of the wealthy and well-known than ever earlier than — or fortunate and well-connected — can enter the zero-gravity realm historically dominated by skilled astronauts.
The New Shepard rocket blasted off on the fast up-and-down journey from West Texas. The fringes of area beckoned some 65 miles (105 kilometers) up, promising just a few valuable minutes of weightlessness.
Sanchez, a helicopter pilot and former TV journalist, invited the others alongside for the 10-minute, absolutely automated flight, packing on the star energy with singer-songwriter Perry and “CBS Mornings” co-host King.
Additionally sharing the journey have been movie producer Kerianne Flynn; Aisha Bowe, a former NASA engineer who began her personal corporations to advertise science schooling; and Amanda Nguyen, a scientist who studied planets round different stars and now advocates for survivors of sexual violence.
Blue Origin declined to say how a lot the flight price or who paid what. The journey comes two months earlier than Sanchez and Bezos marry in Venice.
It was the eleventh human spaceflight for the Washington state-based firm, based by Bezos in 2000 after making a fortune with Amazon. Bezos strapped in for Blue Origin’s first area vacationer flight in 2021 and accompanied the newest crew to the pad.
The superstar launch was the nation’s first spaceflight the place girls stuffed every seat. The one different all-female crew in 64 years of human spaceflight was again in 1963. That’s when Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova launched by herself, changing into the primary girl in area. Tereshkova spent three days off the planet.
Even after the newest launch, girls signify barely 15% of the greater than 700 individuals who have traveled into area. Sanchez stated she intentionally selected girls to launch together with her, every of them desirous to encourage each the younger and previous to dream huge, and even commissioned particular flight fits.
“It’s an important moment for the future of commercial space travel and for humanity in general and for women all around,” Perry instructed The Related Press final week.
The launch introduced out VIPs to West Texas together with Oprah Winfrey and a number of other girls who beforehand have flown on non-public flights.
This isn’t the primary Blue Origin launch with marquee names.
“Star Trek” actor William Shatner caught a raise to area with Blue Origin in 2021 at age 90, quickly after Bezos’ inaugural journey. He was adopted by former New York Giants defensive finish and TV host Michael Strahan and Laura Shepard Churchley, the eldest daughter of Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard, for whom the rocket is known as. Two aviation pioneers who missed out on area after they have been youthful — Wally Funk and Ed Dwight — additionally rocketed away at ages 82 and 90, respectively.
Most of Blue Origin’s passengers — 58 counting the newest launch — have been enterprise or science sorts, TV hosts or YouTubers. Ticket costs will not be disclosed.
The Russian Area Company additionally has launched its share of area vacationers, starting with a California financier in 2001. Twenty years later, a Russian actress filmed aboard the Worldwide Area Station.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX additionally sells multi-day journeys to non-public clients. SpaceX’s first consumer to fly, billionaire tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman already has launched twice and carried out the primary non-public spacewalk. He is now set to turn into NASA’s subsequent administrator if confirmed by the Senate.
Chinese language-born bitcoin investor Chun Wang simply returned from the primary spaceflight to hold folks over the north and south poles. Wang picked up the entire SpaceX tab for himself and three polar explorers for an undisclosed sum.
“In this exciting new era of commercial spaceflight, the dream of becoming an astronaut is no longer limited to a select few,” Wang stated by way of X final week.
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The Related Press Well being and Science Division receives help from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Instructional Media Group and the Robert Wooden Johnson Basis. The AP is solely chargeable for all content material.
