POP superstar Katy Perry and former news anchor Lauren Sanchez are among the celebrities set to fly to space on the first all-women crew since 1963.
Perry and Sanchez, who will also be joined by CBS This Morning anchor Gayle King, will blast off into space on board the Blue Origin this spring.
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The Blue Origin rocket company, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, announced the all-female crew on Thursday but did not specify a date.
Sanchez, Bezos’ fiancee, “brought the crew together” for the “empowering mission.”
“[Sanchez] is honored to lead a team of explorers on a mission that will challenge their perspectives of Earth, empower them to share their own stories, and create lasting impact that will inspire generations to come,” the rocket company said in a statement.
King, who announced the news on This Morning on Thursday, described the feeling of flying to space “terrifying and exciting.”
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“I don’t know how to explain being terrified and excited at the same time,” King said.
“It’s like how I felt about to deliver a baby.”
King, who celebrated her 70th birthday last December, added, “I thought I wanted to open myself up to new adventures and step out of my comfort zone.”
Perry, Sanchez, and King will be accompanied by film producer Kerianne Flynn, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, and former Nasa rocket scientist Aisha Bowe.
The space mission will mark the 11th human flight for Blue Origin’s New Shepard program.
King said she consulted with her children and longtime friend, Oprah Winfrey, before committing to the space mission.
“Once Kirby and Will and Oprah was fine with it, I was fine,” King said.
“I thought Oprah would say, no, no. She said, ‘I think if you don’t do it, when they all come back and you had the opportunity to do it, you will be kicking yourself.’ She’s right.”
The award-winning broadcast journalist said she was approached in November, but was hesitant as blasting off to the edge of space “was not exactly on her bucket list.”
“This was never my dream,” King added.
“It was never my dream. And somebody said, maybe you need to have new dreams.
“These women are so bada**,” the CBS anchor said of the female crew.
“They have such amazing life stories. I feel well prepared.
“I believe in Blue Origin, what they’re doing. I am really excited and actually looking forward to it.”
Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket first launched into space in December 2021, with Bezos himself on board.
Since then, the rocket company has conducted nine other human flights to the edge of space.
In total, 52 people have flown on board the New Shepard above the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary of space, according to the Blue Origin.
The last all-female flight was conducted by Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, who went on a solo spaceflight in June 1963.
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Content shared from www.the-sun.com.