Lumen Technologies hires Sean Alexander as head of Connected Ecosystems
Investing.com -- Pop star Katy Perry, journalists Gayle King and Lauren Sanchez, who is engaged to billionaire Jeff Bezos, are preparing to journey into space aboard a Blue Origin rocket. This marks the first all-female flight crew in over six decades.
The crew will travel aboard the New Shepard rocket, an 18-meter (59-foot) suborbital spacecraft. Blue Origin, owned by Bezos, has confirmed that the rocket will transport the crew to the Kármán line, which is the internationally acknowledged boundary of space. The passengers will experience a few minutes of microgravity prior to their return to Earth, which will be facilitated by a parachute-assisted landing in the West Texas desert.
The remaining crew members are NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, bioastronautics researcher Amanda Nguyen, and movie producer Kerianne Flynn. At this time, Blue Origin has not revealed a date for the mission.
This mission will be the 11th human flight for the New Shepard rocket and its 31st overall. The last all-female spaceflight took place in 1963, when Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova embarked on a solo mission, becoming the first woman in space.
The first crewed flight of the New Shepard took place in July 2021, carrying Jeff Bezos and his brother Mark. Since then, the rocket has transported former NFL player Michael Strahan and Star Trek actor William Shatner, who became the oldest person to travel to space at the age of 90.
Last month, Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket made its first journey to space from Florida. This marked an essential initial step into Earth’s orbit for Bezos’ space company, as it seeks to compete with SpaceX in the satellite launch industry.
This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.