Jeff Bezos’ space venture, Blue Origin, is getting ready for a historic flight that will carry six women to space. The New Shepard rocket, on its 11th mission with humans aboard, will blast off from West Texas on April 14, 2025. This mission, NS-31, will carry the crew past the Kármán Line, the edge between Earth and space, for a short but unforgettable trip.
This mission will transport Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyen, Gayle King, Katy Perry, Kerianne Flynn, and Lauren Sanchez. All of these women have had a great impact in their areas of work.
Katy Perry – Pop star turned space explorer
Katy Perry, the world’s top-selling music artist, is also a philanthropist. As a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, she established the Firework Foundation to support children through arts education. She hopes this spaceflight will inspire her daughter and others to chase their dreams.
Aisha Bowe – NASA scientist turned space tourist
Aisha Bowe is a NASA rocket scientist turned CEO of STEMBoard. She is also the creator of LINGO, an educational initiative to inspire young minds in STEM. Aisha’s path from community college to space is an inspiration, particularly to young people in the Bahamas.
Amanda Nguyen – Scientist and advocate for justice
Amanda Nguyen, a research scientist in bioastronautics, has worked on numerous NASA projects, such as the Kepler mission. She is also a powerful supporter of sexual violence survivors and was TIME’s Woman of the Year. Being the first Vietnamese woman in space, her mission is representative of science as an instrument of peace.
Gayle King – Journalist, beginning new adventures
CBS Mornings co-anchor and award-winning journalist Gayle King is making uncharted skies her next move with this flight. She intends to inspire people to take new challenges, like she is, by traveling in space.
Kerianne Flynn – Storyteller with a mission
As a fashion graduate, human resource graduate, and graduate in film production, Kerianne Flynn has had a constant concern for empowering stories. Her productions, like This Changes Everything and LILLY, promote social change. She sees this spaceflight as an opportunity to inspire her son and future generations.
Lauren Sanchez – Pilot and space fan
Lauren Sanchez is an Emmy-winning journalist and pilot. She is also the Vice Chair of the Bezos Earth Fund and the founder of Black Ops Aviation, a female-led aerial film company. She recently wrote a bestselling children’s book and hopes to encourage young explorers to reach for the stars.
In its last flight, Blue Origin successfully created artificial Moon gravity aboard New Shepard to help test science experiments. The payloads experienced two minutes of lunar gravity before safely landing under parachutes.
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