Experience Four Minutes of Weightlessness on a Space Tourism Rocket
"Eliminating Gender Differences in Spaceflight"
An all-female civilian exploration team is heading to space. It has been 62 years since a spacecraft carrying only women left Earth, following the solo flight of Russian female astronaut Valentina Tereshkova in 1963. This is the first time a spacecraft operated by a private company, not a nation, has flown with only women on board. Six people are on this flight, including American pop star Katy Perry and Lauren Sanchez, the fianc?e of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
On the 14th (local time), Lauren Sanchez, citizen activist Amanda Nguyen, pop star Katy Perry, CBS anchor Gayle King, aerospace engineer Aisha Bo, and film producer Kerry Ann Flynn (clockwise from the left) will embark on a space flight. Blue Origin Instagram
On the 14th (local time), British media outlet Sky News and others reported that Blue Origin's spacecraft 'New Shepard,' founded by Jeff Bezos, was launched at 9:30 a.m. (10:30 p.m. Korean time on the 14th) from Van Horn, Texas, USA, heading to space. 'New Shepard' is a reusable suborbital space tourism rocket developed by the American private space company Blue Origin. It is an autonomous reusable rocket system that launches a capsule up to 100 km above the Earth’s surface. The flight lasts about 10 minutes from takeoff to landing, allowing passengers to experience space by ascending to the boundary of space and looking down at Earth.
The passengers this time include world-renowned singer Perry, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, human rights activist and bioastronautics engineer Amanda Nguyen, American CBS morning show host Gayle King, film producer Kerrien Flynn, and Lauren Sanchez, the fianc?e of Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos. All six are civilians.
Blue Origin explained the purpose of this flight as "forming an all-female flight team to eliminate gender differences in spaceflight."
They plan to cross the 'Karman line,' known as the boundary between Earth and space at an altitude of 100 km, experience weightlessness for several minutes, and then return. Although they will numerically enter space, they do not meet the qualifications for civilian astronauts and thus will not be classified as astronauts. The flight lasts about 11 minutes in total, with approximately 4 minutes spent experiencing weightlessness. Afterward, the capsule will return to Earth using three parachutes.
This mission is led by Sanchez, Bezos’s fianc?e and an aerial filming expert. Sanchez said they will be the first group of astronauts to receive hairstyling and makeup, adding, "Who wouldn’t want to glam up before the flight?" Singer Perry expressed her hopes, saying, "I hope all the daughters of the world can reach the stars."
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