Katy Perry, alongside Lauren Sanchez, Gayle King, and an illustrious ensemble of female pioneers, will embark on an extraordinary voyage into the cosmos aboard Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin spacecraft. Accompanying them will be film producer Kerianne Flynn, NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, and civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, as announced in a thrilling press release on Thursday. The historic flight, slated for this spring, promises to be a milestone in human exploration.
"Marking the 11th human flight for the New Shepard program and the 31st mission overall, this endeavor will elevate the tally of individuals who have traversed the Kármán line—the internationally acknowledged boundary of space—to 52," Blue Origin heralded. "It also distinguishes itself as the first all-female flight crew since Valentina Tereshkova's pioneering solo journey in 1963."
Reacting to the news during Thursday's episode of "CBS Mornings," King confessed with palpable emotion, "I must confess, I'm terrified. Absolutely terrified, yet incredibly thrilled at the same time." Approached in November about this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, King admitted that space travel had never been a dream of hers. However, after consulting with her children and Oprah Winfrey, she decided to recalibrate her aspirations.
"It's indescribable—being simultaneously petrified and exhilarated," she shared with the audience. "It's akin to the sentiments I felt before giving birth." King also expressed her admiration for her fellow astronauts, lauding, "These women are extraordinary. Their life stories are nothing short of amazing."
Reached for comment regarding their decision to journey into space, Perry and Sanchez's representatives shared insights through Blue Origin's press release. "Katy is deeply honored to be part of Blue Origin's groundbreaking first all-female crew, hoping her adventure will ignite the passion for stardom—both literal and metaphorical—in her daughter and countless others," it stated.
Sanchez, who has been romantically linked with Bezos since 2019 and got engaged to him in May 2023, aims to inspire "the next generation of explorers." In an Instagram video, she marveled, "If someone had told me I'd be heading to space one day, I'd have probably laughed. It's surreal that it's actually happening."
Perry and King are not the first celebrities to embark on such an extraordinary journey with Blue Origin. William Shatner, who traveled to space in October 2021, became the oldest person to do so at that time. Recalling his space experience in an interview with Fox News Digital, Shatner reflected, "As I descended and emerged from the spaceship, I was overwhelmed by emotions and began to weep. I didn't comprehend the source of my tears. It took me hours of solitude to grasp what had moved me so deeply."
"Then it dawned on me—I was grief-stricken for this magnificent world, which from space I could see with unparalleled clarity. This planet, 5 billion years in the making, is a repository of wonders that humans cherish and admire. Beyond the elephants, predators, and all that—consider the everyday miracles: a child's fingers, the marvels all around us. And yet, we are destroying it," he lamented.
"That was my overriding sentiment: ‘Oh my God, what are we doing to this tiny rock?’" the actor added, his voice tinged with urgency.
