After a 10-minute and 21-second journey just above the Kármán line, Blue Origin’s all-female flight on April 14 faced heavy criticism due to the involved flight crew and the confusing overall purpose.
The Kármán line is the height recognized as the boundary of space at 62 miles above sea level, and this flight hit 65 miles.
Although Jeff Bezos’ company Blue Origin has allowed people to pay for a ticket to board the ship and go to the boundary line for years, which starts with a $150,000 deposit, this flight was what really had people talking. The full ticket price remains undisclosed.
Celebrities on board included singer Katy Perry, film producer Kerianne Flynn, TV personality Gayle King, and journalist Lauren Sánchez, who is also the fiancée of Bezos. Perry quickly caught the attention of many for mostly looking toward one of the cameras in the ship as opposed to the world around her.
Many people have now criticized the company for allowing celebrities on the flight, overshadowing scientists Aisha Bowe and Amanda Nguyen.
Bowe is an aerospace engineer and entrepreneur who aims to empower and support students who want to pursue something within STEM.
Nguyen, a bioastronautics research scientist who delayed her astronaut dreams for years in order to advocate for the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Rights Act, went up in Blue Origin to conduct multiple women’s health experiments.
“We live in a capitalist world, ultimately, I’m able to fly because of this public-private partnership that NASA intentionally opened up,” Nguyen said when asked how she feels about celebrity access.
Blue Origin’s Senior Vice President Phil Joyce stated, “Each of these women is a storyteller who will use their voices—individually and together—to channel their life-changing experience today into creating lasting impact that will inspire people across our planet for generations,” because as of 2022, only 13.6% of aerospace engineers were women compared to the 86.4% of men.
Apart from the two scientists, people have questioned how the rest of the crew contributes to the idea of women further breaking through sexist boundaries aside from the fact that they are women.
“The mission was not accompanied by announcements of new pipeline programs, research grants or initiatives to address gender disparities in aerospace leadership,” Forbes wrote. “Just six passengers, and a press strategy built for orbit.”
Perry held a space-inspired concert in Mexico City on April 23. She asked the crowd, “Has anyone ever called your dreams crazy?” seemingly in response to the criticism.
King also responded to the criticism, specifically those arguing it was a waste of resources and solely added to pollutants.
“Have you been?” King said to Entertainment Tonight. “If you’ve been and you still feel that way after you come back, please, let’s have a conversation.”
Other celebrities, like Emily Ratajkowski, have gone after Bezos instead of the other celebrities on the crew. She views the whole program as developing crafts for space tourism—rather than the women participating in the mission.
No official response has been publicized by Blue Origin.
