On April 14, the company Blue Origin sent a New Shepard rocket into space for about ten minutes. On board, an all-female crew consisting of singer Katy Perry and Jeff Bezos’ wife Lauren Sanchez. A flight that did not fail to make the public around the world react.
While women account for only 15% of people who have traveled to space, Blue Origin, the space company owned by Amazon’s CEO, sent six women to an altitude of over 100 kilometers on Monday, April 14. Dressed in blue suits, the crew boarded a rocket for what was supposed to be a historic flight.
A 100% female expedition
The 11th expedition of Blue Origin took place on 14 April. The New Shepard rocket took off in the middle of the day (French time) towards space, at more than three times the speed of sound. The capsule crossed the Kármán line, the internationally recognized limit of space at 100 km above the Earth, before detaching to float in weightlessness and then returning to the ground using parachutes.
For 11 minutes, the crew was able to live this unique experience and admire the earth seen from the sky, all captured on video to keep a memory of this memorable moment. More than just a successful space mission, the expedition was highly publicized because of the budding astronauts in the rocket.
The crew was female only to promote women and inspire younger generations. Among them, Lauren Sanchez, the wife of Jezz Bezos, the founder of Blue Origin, who has chosen the other members of the mission. Leading the way, and to bring international visibility to the expedition, was singer Katy Perry, who told the Associated Press: “this is an important moment for the future of commercial space navigation, for humanity in general and for all women.”
Journalist Gayle King, film producer Kerianne Flynn, anti-sexual violence activist and bioastronautics researcher Amanda Nguyễn and former NASA scientist, entrepreneur and world science lawyer Aisha Bowe, also part of the mission. These six women, who work in different sectors, all had the ambition to highlight the female cause and show girls that dreams have no limits.
“Each of these women is a storyteller who will use her voice, individually and collectively, to channel the experience that changed her life today to create a lasting impact that will inspire people on our planet for generations. Thank you to this remarkable crew for inspiring so many people on their historic journey to the stars and back,” said Phil Joyce, Senior Vice President of New Shepard.
A highly criticized flight
One thing is certain: the Blue Origin expedition created debate. While some members of the public praised the advance of space tourism and the promotion of women, many celebrities and netizens denounced the financial and above all ecological aspects of such a space mission.
Some have denounced a “whim” of ultra-rich people who use the feminist cause to ensure a self-communication operation and a personal whim. Actress Olivia Munn said in an interview: “It costs so much money to go into space when at the moment many people can’t even afford eggs…. Space exploration was supposed to deepen our knowledge and help humanity.high to improve the situation here?”
The climate issue has also been widely discussed. Indeed, according to the site TreeHugger, a rocket launch generates on average 93 tons of CO2, 15 tons for each of the six passengers. More concretely, each member consumed in 11 minutes the equivalent of the carbon footprint of an average French person for a year and a half. A very salty report that has aroused strong criticism from the environmentalist sphere and some celebrities who have publicly expressed themselves, such as the model Emily Ratajkowski on Tiktok.
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“This space mission is the end of time. It’s beyond parody. You say that you care about the earth, and you get on a spaceship built and funded by a company that is destroying the planet. Look at the state of the world, and think about all the resources that have been devoted to sending these women into space. What was the goal? I’m literally disgusted,” she said. And the criticism continues largely in the comment spaces of social networks, where mockers and whistleblowers have blossomed.
While the company reaffirmed its commitments and stated the mission’s calling, crew member Gayle King also defended the expedition. “Space is not a choice. It’s about complementarity. And just because we’re doing something in space doesn’t mean we’re taking anything away from the Earth. What we’re trying to do in space is make things better here on Earth. Blue Origin wants to find a way to transfer waste into space in order to make our planet cleaner”.
So many arguments that do not seem to have convinced Internet users but feed the debate on this very controversial topic.
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Featured photo : © Blue Origin
