Area journey is getting a bit of extra star-studded—actually.
Blue Origin, the non-public spaceflight firm based by Jeff Bezos, has introduced that its subsequent crewed mission aboard the New Shepard rocket will characteristic an all-female crew.
Amongst them? None aside from pop sensation Katy Perry and journalist Gayle King.
The mission, anticipated to launch someday this spring, will even embody Amanda Nguyen, a bioastronautics analysis scientist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee; Aisha Bowe, a former NASA rocket scientist and entrepreneur; Kerianne Flynn, a movie producer and philanthropist; and Lauren Sánchez, who performed a serious function in assembling the mission. Sánchez, a pilot and journalist, additionally occurs to be Jeff Bezos’ fiancée and the vice chair of the Bezos Earth Fund.
In accordance with Blue Origin, this historic mission will mark the primary all-female spaceflight crew since Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova’s solo journey in 1963.
“She is honored to guide a crew of explorers on a mission that can problem their views of Earth, empower them to share their very own tales, and create lasting influence that can encourage generations to return,” Blue Origin mentioned in a press release about Sánchez’s involvement.
Breaking Boundaries & Making Historical past
One of the crucial thrilling points of this mission is that it’s including new names to the rising checklist of ladies who’ve made it to house. Whereas NASA has chosen 61 ladies as astronauts since its inception, the variety of feminine house vacationers has considerably elevated with the rise of business house tourism.
In November 2023, TV host and MIT engineer Emily Calandrelli, also referred to as “Area Gal,” grew to become the a hundredth lady to succeed in house on Blue Origin’s NS-28 mission. Now, Amanda Nguyen shall be making historical past as nicely.
Nguyen, a fierce advocate for sexual violence survivors and a 2019 Nobel Peace Prize nominee, is about to turn into the primary Vietnamese and Southeast Asian lady astronaut.
What to Anticipate from Blue Origin’s NS-31 Mission
This upcoming flight, designated NS-31, will mark Blue Origin’s eleventh human spaceflight, sending its passengers previous the Kármán line—the boundary 62 miles (100 kilometers) above Earth that’s broadly thought of the start of outer house. Nevertheless, this classification has been debated amongst scientists and house businesses.
The corporate has not but introduced an official launch date, however the pleasure is already sky-high.
As house tourism continues to broaden, increasingly ladies are getting the prospect to discover past our planet.
Whereas NASA made historical past in 2019 with its first all-female spacewalk—performed by astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir outdoors the Worldwide Area Station—this mission proves that female-led exploration is not an exception.
With this all-female flight set to take off quickly, one factor is for certain: the way forward for house journey is trying stellar.
