Written by Hailey
April 14th marked history for women, after the Blue Origin spacecraft launched into space with an all-female crew. This is groundbreaking for women since this hasn’t been done since the 1960s. Many firsts were done in this mission, Katy Perry was onboard, becoming the first pop star to travel to space. Also on board was Gayle King from CBS Mornings, Aisha Bowe, a former NASA rocket scientist. Kerianne Flynn, a bioastronautics researcher, and Amanda Nguyen, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, were on board. Jeff Bezos’s fiancée was also on board, a journalist and author who helped organize the flight. An additional thing to mention, which marks history for Vietnamese women, is that Nguyen is the first Vietnamese woman to travel to space ever.
Through interviews, the six-women crew showed immense excitement for this mission, hoping to give women all around the world a boost of hope. Katy Perry brought on board a daisy for her daughter and was even seen tearing up in interviews, thinking about her family. Overall, the crew had no issues with the launch and landing, with the crew even experiencing a few moments of weightlessness in the outer orbit of the Earth before their descent back down.
The controversy began after the mission was completed. The mission lasted roughly 11 minutes from launch to landing. Some people saw no point in this space travel, as it was portrayed as a publicity stunt to many people on social media.
Just hours after the mission had been completed, critics began releasing their opinions of the entire ordeal. The first two media stars and celebrities were Emily Ratajkowski and Olivia Wilde. Ratajkowski is an American model and actress, and was very critical, even claiming to be “disgusted” by the mission. Along with the previous statement, she additionally claimed the mission wasn’t an “accomplishment”, which some disagree with after the several history-breaking records the mission obtained.
In her defense, she backed her claims against the mission. She claimed how hypocritical the mission was, as the crew did claim to care for Earth, but the company that provided the space shuttle was actively involved with harmful environmental activities, which led to climate change. Wilde, though, was less descriptive of her objectives of the mission, simply stating “a billion dollars bought some good memes, I guess”. Most people assumed she insinuated the entire trip as a joke.
At the end of the day, the mission is already completed, and it cannot be undone. Yes, it was groundbreaking, making history for women, but at the same time, harming the Earth. The critics of this mission, and climate change activists, have understandable claims about why this mission wasn’t necessary. As a society, we should take this as a learning lesson.
If history is going to be made, don’t kill the Earth at the same time. If more were to be earned from missions like this one, it would be understandable. A longer mission with active research would be more beneficial and seem less like a stunt.
Was this 11-minute round trip hurting the Earth even more than it already had been, worth it?