Blue Origin’s New Shepard vehicle carried six women on a brief suborbital journey from West Texas, completing the company’s NS-31 mission with successful landings of both its reusable booster and crew capsule. Blue Origin described the passengers as the first all-female space crew in more than 60 years. [4585]
The flight’s passengers were singer Katy Perry, television personality Gayle King, journalist Lauren Sánchez, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, bioastronautics research scientist Amanda Nguyen and film producer Kerianne Flynn. Sánchez is engaged to Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos. [4585]
New Shepard lifted off from Blue Origin’s Launch Site One at 9:30 a.m. The rocket accelerated beyond 2,000 mph during its ascent before the booster separated from the capsule at about the three-minute point. The capsule continued upward past the Kármán Line, the boundary 62 miles above Earth that is widely used to mark the beginning of space. [4585]
During the approximately 11-minute mission, the passengers experienced several minutes of microgravity and viewed Earth through the capsule’s windows. Audio from the flight captured the crew reacting to the Moon and the narrow blue appearance of Earth’s atmosphere. Perry sang “What a Wonderful World” during the descent, according to King’s account after landing. [4585]
The booster returned under engine power, touching down roughly seven minutes after launch at a landing area about two miles from the pad. The capsule descended separately. Three parachutes deployed around nine minutes into the mission, and the spacecraft landed in the desert about two minutes later. [4585]
After leaving the capsule, several crew members marked their return by kneeling or kissing the ground. Perry carried a daisy aboard and said after the flight that the flower represented resilience. She also said that accepting the mission had been a difficult decision as a mother, but that she wanted to demonstrate courage. [4585]
King, who had previously discussed her fear of flying, said she was proud of completing the journey. Sánchez described the view from space as quiet and vivid, while also emphasizing the importance of caring for people on Earth. The six passengers characterized the experience as one that created a strong bond among them. [4585]
Family members and supporters watched from the launch site. Those present included Oprah Winfrey, who attended in support of King, as well as Khloe Kardashian and Kris Jenner. Bezos met the crew after recovery teams reached and opened the capsule. [4585]
The mission combined Blue Origin’s established short-duration suborbital flight profile with an unusually prominent passenger roster drawn from entertainment, broadcasting, science, advocacy and film. Its central milestone was the all-female makeup of the six-person crew, a distinction highlighted by the company and reported after the safe completion of the flight. [4585]
