Everything you need to know about Blue Origin's new operation

This afternoon, around 3:30 PM, the new Blue Origin flight – the aerospace company founded by Jeff Bezos – is expected to launch with an all-female crew. Pop star Katy Perry, Lauren Sánchez (Bezos’ partner), and television journalist Gayle King will take part in this short but historic space mission. According to the BBC, the New Shepard rocket will lift off from the Texas launch site and the flight will last approximately 11 minutes, carrying the crew more than 100 km above Earth, reaching the Kármán line, commonly considered the boundary of space. The entire flight system is fully autonomous and requires no pilots on board (although it is remotely monitored and controlled), while the capsule will return to Earth with a soft landing assisted by parachutes. The rocket booster, meanwhile, will attempt a vertical landing not far from the launch site. According to Blue Origin, the last all-female spaceflight took place over 60 years ago, when Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to travel into space aboard the Vostok 6 spacecraft. Since then, there have been no missions made up exclusively of women, which is exactly what makes today’s launch so historically significant. If it weren’t for the concerns circulating on social media regarding Katy Perry’s safety.

The risks of the mission, according to The Cut, are not particularly high: it’s a short flight, quite different from an extended stay in orbit. However, it’s certainly not a walk in the park or a simple car ride, and that small percentage of danger has already alarmed thousands of fans around the world, worried about the pop star’s safety. Many are questioning why Perry agreed to take part in such an operation, arguing that the experience is not worth the risk of losing her life. Others have pointed out that, in the case of a negative outcome, the daughter of Katy Perry and British actor Orlando Bloom (Daisy, 4 years old) would be left without a mother. Fans’ anxieties have also been amplified by memories of the OceanGate submersible implosion two years ago, when a group of millionaires died during a dive to the Titanic wreck. At the same time, the singer has repeatedly expressed her enthusiasm for the mission, sharing her excitement on social media: “If you had told me that I would be part of the first all-female crew in space, I would have believed you. Nothing was beyond my imagination as a child. Even though we didn’t grow up with much, I never stopped looking at the world with hopeful wonder.” And of course, social media hasn’t missed the chance to respond with memes, with some referencing aliens (as a nod to her hit “E.T.”), others imagining a world without the pop star, and many simply poking fun at the absurdity of the entire situation. All that’s left now is to wait a few more hours to see how this new space adventure unfolds.