All-female Blue Origin spaceflight prepares for liftoff
(NewsNation) – Six women are scheduled Monday to take the first all-female flight into space in over half a century.
Members of the high-profile group — recording artist Katy Perry, journalists Gayle King and Lauren Sánchez, former NASA scientist Aisha Bowe, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen and movie producer Kerianne Flynn — have been in West Texas for a few days for training and getting fitted for space suits.
Blue Origin, the rocket company owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, announced the trip earlier this year. Although the flight has received wide attention for the gender of its crew, the first all-female journey beyond the atmosphere was accomplished by Soviet-era cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, in a 1963 solo mission.
Monday's New Shepard launch window is scheduled to open 9:30 a.m. ET/8:30 a.m. CT, the company says.
All participants in this week’s flight aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepherd capsule expressed excitement for the opportunity.
“I am feeling so grateful and grounded and honored to be invited and included with this incredible group of women,” Perry told The Associated Press last week.
Their entry into space is expected to last about 10 minutes. The private mission has drawn scorn from critics like actress Olivia Munn, who say the project seems extravagant when compared to problems back on Earth.
Blue Origin doesn’t advertise its prices online but requires a $150,000 deposit per seat.
Despite what critics might say, it's not all fun and games. Nguyen, for example, is conducting three experiments in space to help future generations of astronauts. Her research includes testing how fast plants can grow in space and how astronaut suits handle moisture.
“Women, in the beginning of NASA, were barred from becoming astronauts, and one of the reasons cited was menstruation, but they didn’t have the data to back that up. So, my experiment will be gathering data, hopefully, to refute that,” Nguyen said recently.
Bezos’ rocket company Blue Origin announced the crew in February. Sanchez, a helicopter pilot and former TV journalist, picked the women who will join her on the spaceflight.
Blue Origin has flown tourists on short hops to space since 2021, after Bezos climbed aboard with his brother for the inaugural trip; the upcoming trip will be the company's 11th human spaceflight.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.