An all-female crew that included pop singer Katy Perry have flown into space and safely landed back on Earth.
Perry joined a former NASA rocket scientist, a bioastronautics expert, two US journalists and a film producer as part of the first all-female astronaut crew to fly into space since 1963.
The private US rocket firm Blue Origin, headed by Jeff Bezos, announced the six-person crew for its NS-31 mission earlier this year.
It was the 11th flight of the New Shepard rocket, which is named after Alan Shepard, the first American in space.
The six-person flight was also the first all-female astronaut crew since Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova's solo flight in 1963, which saw her become the first woman in space.
The NS-31 crew includes:
- Aisha Bowe, former NASA rocket scientist and CEO of engineering firm STEMBoard
- Amanda Nguyen, scientist who specialises in the effects of spaceflight on the human body
- Gayle King, journalist and presenter
- Katy Perry, pop star and singer
- Kerianne Flynn, film producer
- Lauren Sánchez, journalist and author
The crew made the journey into space as part of Blue Origin's private spaceflight service.
Yes, we live in an era in which space tourism is slowly but surely becoming a reality (although, for the moment, it comes at a hefty price).
Blue Origin even has a section on its website for would-be space tourists, including info on how to apply and what's involved in its astronaut training and spaceflight programmes.
So what can such a crew expect?
"During the 11-minute journey, astronauts soar past the Kármán line (100 km/62 miles), the internationally recognised boundary of space, experiencing several minutes of weightlessness and witnessing life-changing views of Earth," says a statement from Blue Origin.
"The vehicle is fully autonomous — there are no pilots."
Would you travel into space? Does space tourism excite you? Let us know by emailing contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com
