Singer Katy Perry, CBS anchor Gayle King and other well-known women set off to space on Monday morning in Blue Origin’s 11th human spaceflight mission.
Why it matters: This is the first all-woman space crew in U.S. history.
- The flight was led by Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ commercial space company.
- Minutes after taking off, the crew experienced weightlessness. Then they soon safely returned to Earth.
Zoom in: The passengers aboard were:
- Lauren Sánchez, Jeff Bezos’ fiancée, the vice chair of the Bezos Earth Fund and a former journalist
- Katy Perry, the biggest-selling woman artist in Capitol Records’ history
- Amanda Nguyễn, a bioastronautics research scientist and civil rights activist
- Aisha Bowe: a former NASA rocket scientist
- Gayle King: co-host of CBS Mornings
- Kerianne Flynn, a film producer
Blue Origin’s New Shepard crew capsule returns to earth following a launch from Launch Site One on April 14 in Van Horn, Texas. Photo: Justin Hamel/Getty Images
Context: Sánchez has long planned to helm an all-women Blue Origin mission.
- “I’m so afraid, but I’m also so excited about it,” King said when the mission was announced.
Watch the mission:
Go deeper: Blue Origin to lay off 10% of employees
