Pop star Katy Perry made headlines recently by launching into space on Monday, April 14th, with Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket. The crew included Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyễn, Gayle King, Kerianne Flynn, and Lauren Sánchez. The flight lasted a total of 11 minutes and went 62 miles above Earth, which crossed the recognized boundary of space. Although this is only the second documented instance of an all-female space flight, it didn’t alleviate the crew from backlash.
A major controversy about this flight is its incredibly steep price point. In the summer of 2021, Blue Origin auctioned off a seat on its first flight for $28 million. But sometimes people can be flown as “guests” for free. Star Trek actor William Shatner flew up in October 2021 as a guest of Blue Origin. Spokesperson to Blue Origin, Bill Kircos, told CNN that some female passengers went up “free of charge”, while some did not and refused to comment on who paid.
This can be misleading, though, as anyone can book a flight with Blue Origin, according to the company’s reservation page. Fill out a simple form with basic information and a section to tell them about yourself in 500 words or less. The reservation page doesn’t give any specific ticket prices, but there is a box to check to let them know that a “fully refundable deposit” of $150,000 will be collected. There’s also another section to specify that filling out the form “does not guarantee you a seat on a future New Shepard flight”. Steps after the form are unclear.
Blue origin
Blue Origin itself is highly controversial due to its billionaire founder and Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos. In the aftermath of the 2020 U.S. Election, Bezos changed his stance on President Donald Trump, now aligning himself with the President and donating one million dollars to his recent inauguration. Blue Origin also seems to be more focused on space tourism than space exploration, competing heavily with SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk in 2002. This alone makes me feel as if the flight was not about feminist achievements, but more about promoting Bezos’s own company after recent Amazon boycotts.
Many critics of Perry and Sánchez point out the crew’s transparency about their beauty routine while preparing for the flight. In an interview with Elle magazine, the crew discusses “getting glammed up for their flight,” where the interviewer states, “This will be the first time anybody has gone to space with their hair and makeup done”. To which Sánchez replies, “Who would not get glam before the flight?!” and Perry responds, “Space is going to finally be glam. Let me tell you something. If I could take glam up; with me, I would do that. We are going to put the “ass” in astronaut”. With more banter discussing lash extensions, makeup, and hair in space. Don’t get me wrong, though, I love all things related to beauty, and women can absolutely care about those things. However, millionaires often tend to profit off the marketability of women.
Another big concern of the Blue Origin flight is its environmental impact. A 2022 World Inequality Report stated that a single space flight of a few minutes emits more carbon emissions than one billion people will emit in their lifetime. Blue Origin stated that its only byproduct is water vapor, with no carbon emissions, but environmental experts argue that even water vapor isn’t harmless. Water vapor is the most common greenhouse gas currently in the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases play a big role in climate change and global warming as they trap heat from the sun, warming the Earth.
Two positives to this space mission were Aisha Bowe, an aerospace engineer, and Amanda Nguyễn, a civil rights entrepreneur who has previous work with NASA. Bowe is the first person of Bahamian heritage to travel to space, where she conducted research during the flight on the future of producing crops in harsh environments. Nguyễn became the first Vietnamese and Southeast Asian woman in space, and drafted the Sexual Assault Survivor Bill of Rights. She said that her time in space marked her “full circle healing journey”, after postponing her space dreams to fight for survivors of sexual violence. Nguyễn also conducted her own research during the flight.