Blue Origin and Katy Perry just made history.
Jeff Bezos' aerospace company launched its NS-31 mission today (April 14), sending the pop star and her five female crewmates on a brief mission to suborbital space. Liftoff occurred at 9:30 a.m. EDT (1330 GMT) from Blue Origin's West Texas launch site.
It was the first all-female spaceflight since June 16, 1963, when the Soviet Union's Valentina Tereshkova launched on a three-day mission to Earth orbit. Tereshkova flew by herself, however, so NS-31 was the first-ever multiperson human spaceflight not to feature a male crewmember.
On board were Perry, one of the best-selling pop stars of all time; Gayle King, co-host of the TV show "CBS Mornings"; former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, the founder and CEO of the technology company STEMBoard; filmmaker Kerianne Flynn; bioastronautics researcher, author and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Amanda Nguyen, who became the first Vietnamese woman in space; and journalist and author Lauren Sánchez, who is also Bezos' fiancee. Sánchez organized the flight.
Perry took a daisy flower to space with her in honor of her 4-year-old daughter. In a Blue Origin interview before launch, she teared up when thinking about her family.
"The message to my family is that I love them so much, and I'm so full of love, and I am so grateful to be representing a fearless female in my family," Perry said.
Oprah Winfrey, King's longtime friend, watched the launch with King's family.
"I've never been more proud of my friend than today. Never been more proud because this is bigger than just going to space," Winfrey said. "There's only one time that all the women are going up for the first time. You know, there will be other trips, but there's only one first time."
"Oh my God, that was amazing," King said as she hugged Bezos after landing. She kneeled on the ground and put her head to the Earth as she left the capsule.
NS-31 began when New Shepard lifted off the pad at Blue Origin's launch site in West Texas, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of Van Horn. It cruised above the 62-mile-high (100 km) Kármán Line, which most authorities recognize as the boundary of outer space (though there is some debate).
Perry and crew experienced a few minutes of weightlessness and got to see Earth against the blackness of space.
The six women sounded jubilant througout the flight, with cheers and screams as they landed.
"Look at the moon!" one crewmember said as they reached space.
"Oh my God, that's our pink moon!" what sounded like Perry replied.
'Wow!'
But it was all over quickly: The New Shepard crew capsule touched down under parachutes about 10.5 minutes after launch today, sending a cloud of dust billowing into the West Texas sky.
The New Shepard booster returned a few minutes earlier, making a vertical, powered touchdown on its landing pad as planned about 7.5 minutes after launch.
Perry held the daisy she took to space to the sky after leaving the capsule and kissed the ground after exiting.
It was the 31st overall mission of Blue Origin's reusable New Shepard vehicle — hence the name — and the 11th to carry crew. (The others have been uncrewed research flights.)
Related: Blue Origin: Everything you need to know about the private spaceflight company
Each crewmember put a little of herself into the NS-31 mission patch. For example, a small scale symbolizes Nguyen's advocacy for civil rights and social change, and an exploding firework represents Perry's "global influence across music, pop culture and philanthropy," according to Blue Origin.
"Firework," of course, also happens to be one of Perry's best-known songs. Perry said she was taking abotu 300 wristbands for the children of a camp she and her sister run, as well as a daisy flower in honor of her young daughter Daisy.
Perry may now be the most famous person ever to fly to space. (Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin are certainly contenders, but they're in a different category, having gained their fame from their spaceflight.)
She's not the first celebrity that Blue Origin has sent to the final frontier, however: Actor William Shatner, NFL Hall of Famer Michael Strahan and Bezos himself have all ridden New Shepard to and from suborbital space.
In fact, Bezos flew on New Shepard's first-ever crewed mission, which launched on July 20, 2021 — the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
