Featured Image Credit: Blue Origin
We assume Katy Perry has just entered the history books as the first person to sing Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" in space, and although Blue Origin's all-female crew is one for the ages, it's drummed up a lot of controversy.
The idea of sending tourists to space is becoming more popular, and while the average ticket price on a Blue Origin rocket is likely out of reach for most of us, Jeff Bezos sent a lucky crew of Perry, journalist Gayle King, aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe, research scientist Amanda Nguyen, businesswoman Kerianne Flynn, and his fiancée, Lauren Sánchez, up into the stars. Unlike Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore being marooned on the International Space Station for 286 days, Blue Origin's flight had Perry and co. up in the air for just 11 minutes.
As well as controversy ahead of the launch, Perry has since been mocked as footage of her kissing the ground after she landed went viral.
Advert
Notably, people have been laughing at Perry and King for kissing the Earth because they were only technically 'in space' for a tiny amount of time.
CBS News cameras showed the capsule separating from its booster, leading to three to four minutes of weightlessness. The footage included broken audio of the women staring in awe at the Earth from above, while Perry also broke into song on the way back. During the short period of weightlessness, the women gathered at the center of the capsule and chanted: "One, two, three: Take up space!"
While up there, Perry held a daisy at the camera to honor her daughter called Daisy. She's previously said she admires daisies because some class them as weeds as they grow in cracks where other flowers can't. The "Roar" singer also displayed a paper butterfly with a track listing for her upcoming Lifetimes tour.
Blue Origin confirmed that the capsule reached 346,802 feet above ground level (AGL) and 350,449 above mean sea level (MSL), and translating to 106 kilometers and 107 kilometers, it's well above the 100km Kármán line that's classed as the start of space.
Despite the backlash from the likes of Olivia Munn, Emily Ratajkowski, Amy Schumer, and even Wendy's (yes, the fast food restaurant), there are those who argue it's good for promoting women in space. Speaking to CNN, Michael Massimino, professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia University and a former NASA astronaut, said: "These are things that get people’s attention, and then they hear Katy Perry or Gayle King talking about their experiences, and maybe they’ll get to learn a little bit more about the space program and about achieving goals.
"I think that is what the value is here. The future, I think, is really unlimited, now that it’s not just governments going to space but also it’s commercial companies. I think the possibilities are really exciting."
There are memes galore online, with many poking fun at the fact Perry was in space for 'just' three to four minutes. Then again, it's three to four minutes more than most of us will ever get to spend up there.
