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Uzone.id – Katy Perry has just made a new history in her life’s journey. Yup, the pop singer from the United States has just traveled to space. Not alone, Katy Perry went with Gayle King, Lauren Sánchez, Amanda Nguyen, Aisha Bowe, and Kerianne Flynn on Monday (14/4).
Gayle King is a CBS News broadcast journalist, Lauren Sánchez who is currently the fiancée of Jeff Bezos, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, film producer Kerianne Flynn, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, and film producer Kerianne Flynn, and former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe.
Katy Perry as a space tourism
Katy and her colleagues launched on Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft which departed from Launch Site One, West Texas at 9:30 a.m. EDT (8:30 p.m. WIB). The group is known as the NS-31 mission, which means the 31st flight for the New Shepard capsule rocket. And became the 11th manned flight for New Shepard.
New Sheard itself operates under Jeff Bezos’ space tourism company, Blue Origin. The trip lasted about 11 minutes. The entire trip was also broadcast live, but only an audio version was available. At some point during takeoff and landing, some of the capsule’s passengers were heard screaming.
When they arrived in space, Katy and the other passengers were allowed to remove their seat belts for about four minutes. This is the moment where Katy Perry feels standing in an area without gravity. In fact, Katy had sung “What a Wonderful World” – Louis Armstrong during the tour.
Interestingly, the NS-31 mission became the first spaceflight to carry all female passengers since June 16, 1963. The mission successfully took Katy and her entire companions across the Karman line, an area 62 miles (100 kilometers) above the Earth’s surface, the altitude at which the space ‘area’ begins. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale calls it the edge of space.
Katy Perry’s brief trip then triggered various reactions on the internet. Including positive reactions from people who are interested in participating in the space tourism mission.
Blue Origin’s first flight
Blue Origin first flew the first manned New Shepard rocket in 2021. Jeff Bezos managed to make history in his life by successfully going to space. In addition to Jeff Bezos, the flight also carried his brother, and two other colleagues, including Wally Funk.
Wally Funk, who was 82 years old at the time, made history as the oldest person to fly into space. Previously, the record was held by John Glenn who once traveled to orbit at the age of 77.
Unfortunately, after the mission failure that occurred in 2022, the company was forced to halt flights for almost two years. After that, the flight of Katy Perry and her colleagues then became the first since the hiatus.
How much does it cost for a Blue Origin trip
In the summer of 2021, Blue Origin auctioned seats for their first manned flight for $28 million. However, the first person to buy the seat was forced to postpone the flight due to a clashing schedule. Then, the opportunity was given to an 18-year-old teenager named Oliver Daemen from the Netherlands.
For the closest flights, the exact cost of Blue Origin tickets is still a mystery. Most likely exceeded the price of their first ticket. For the record, anyone can book Blue Origin flight tickets through their official website.
Prospective passengers will be asked to write down their personal data, and write a short essay of 500 words to register on the page. However, the truth is, not everyone has to pay millions of dollars.
In 2021, Star Trek star William Shatner had the opportunity to fly on the New Shepard suborbital launcher for free. He came as a ‘guest’ for Blue Origin. When questioned by the media, Blue Origin declined to say who paid for the trip.
According to a representative from SpaceVIP, the co-founder of the space travel booking company, said that this is not just about money. It’s about who, social capital, and whether their presence aligns with the goals of the launch.
If you really intend to start your first flight into space as soon as possible, Blue Origin’s competitor, Virgin, has started selling the price of airplane seats. Virgin offers tickets with rates ranging from $200,000 to $450,000.
