A pop star, two journalists, a rocket scientist, an activist, and a filmmaker walk into a room. That may sound like the setup for a punchline, but it’s actually the all-star lineup of Blue Origin’s historic all-female space crew, which includes Katy Perry, Lauren Sánchez, Gayle King, Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyen, and Kerianne Flynn.
Fittingly, it’s the third week of Women’s History Month when the group assembles in person for the very first time at their ELLE cover shoot, and everywhere you look, people are buzzing with excitement, ready to write the next chapter. “We’re a crew!” the women shout in unison once they meet. Each is rocking her version of an all-black power look. There are fitted pantsuits, deep V-cuts, embellishments down the sides of sleeves and pants, touches of leather, and towering stiletto heels. As they huddle, the charged energy filling the air hints that the reality of the thrilling mission is beginning to sink in. There had been a couple of one-on-one hangouts and video calls ahead of this meeting, but this marks their first chance to gather together as a team with the only other women on Earth who could understand how they are feeling.
Three weeks earlier, Blue Origin, the private space company owned by Sánchez’s fiancé, billionaire Jeff Bezos, publicly announced that the rocketship New Shepard’s 31st mission would be made up solely of women—the first since Russian astronaut Valentina Tereshkova’s solo space flight in 1963. Because privatized space flight is still new, Blue Origin’s announcement was met with surprise across social media, news broadcasts, and group chats. King says people have even stopped her on the street to express their concerns and well wishes.
The flight is different from what you might envision: The entire trip is only expected to last 11 minutes, and the women will be going up in a rocket that flies itself, allowing each of them to enjoy the flight as passengers. Once they reach space, they’ll be able to float around the rocket, experiencing weightlessness and looking out the windows at the universe and Earth below for about four minutes before coming back down.
“I called Katy,” King says of preparing for the flight. “We had been on the phone for 36 minutes, and I’d asked her 50 million questions, until finally she said, ‘Could I just interrupt for a second? Are you aware that our flight is going to be shorter than this freaking phone call?’”
King and Perry laugh as she tells the story. The CBS Mornings host has been very open about the fear and nervousness she’s grappling with in order to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Perry, on the other hand, is the picture of calm. “I don’t have any time to be nervous; I ain’t got time to be worried,” she says. “I’m going to feel something when they go, ‘10, 9, 8, 7,…’ but until then we’ve got stuff to do. We’ve got business to handle.”
“We have a saying in our house, ‘Life takes off on the other side of fear,’” Sánchez says as she reaches a hand out to King and adds: “Trust me, I’m a little scared too.”
“Wait, you’re the insurance!” Perry exclaims candidly as the group erupts in laughter once again.
Sánchez, who led the organization of the historic mission, says she chose each of the women because of their proven ability to inspire others. “All of these women are storytellers in their own right,” she says. “They’re going to go up to space and be able to spread what they felt in different ways.” The journalist and author also hopes that the group will expand the idea of what explorers look like for the next generation. Based on the statistics of women and space exploration, it’s evident the representation is needed. Not only has it been over 60 years since women (or technically just a woman) traveled to space without men, but women also only make up about 11 percent of those who’ve ventured into space in total.
And, as always, those figures are even lower when it comes to women of color. In fact, only five Black women, two Latina women, and four women of Asian descent have ever gotten to experience the final frontier as NASA astronauts. And the women who did manage to defy those odds had to deal with a hefty amount of gender discrimination on their way up. In Sally, a recent National Geographic documentary about NASA astronaut Sally Ride, the first American woman to go to space, she talks about the offensive questions she had to deal with from her colleagues and the media. (They ranged from her reproductive organs, to how many tampons she would need on board for a week, to whether she could manage to keep from crying if the mission got too hard.)
“I read a stat that there’s a huge majority of middle school girls who decide not to pursue STEM fields, although they otherwise would have been interested, because they see them as male-dominated fields,” says Bowe, one of the two Black women in the Blue Origin group and a former rocket scientist. “So this representation really matters. It’s people seeing themselves and being able to show up authentically in their careers in the future.”
Their crew will be among the most diverse set of women to ever go to space at once, and the significance isn’t lost on any of them. As we sit down to begin our roundtable discussion, King begins to sing a hymn appropriately titled, “I Surrender All.” “We’re going to be singing that all the way up,” Perry says, nodding her head as King sings.
On Their Initial Reaction to Being Invited to Space
Katy Perry: I was like, What am I going to wear? But seriously, I have wanted to go to space for almost 20 years. I was investigating all of the possible commercial options. Even when Blue Origin was first talking about commercial travel to space, I was like, “Sign me up! I’m first in line.” And then they called me, and I was like, “Really? I get an invite?” And then they told me about it being the first all-female crew. I take pause in those moments and ask the universe to give me confirmations. And I really felt very sure when they sent me the picture of the space pod, because on the front of the pod is a feather, and that’s my mom’s nickname for me. And so I was like, Okay, I see it.
Gayle King: I’m probably the only one at the table who wasn’t saying, “Put me in, coach.” When I got the call from Lauren and Jeff, my first reaction was a no. When I covered Blue Origin’s first human flight, with Jeff and his brother, I thought, Whoa, good on him that he went the first time. “He said, “I’m going. That’s how much I believe in it.” I’ve since talked to so many people who’ve been up. So I had a lot of trepidation—I still do—but I also know it’s very interesting to be terrified and excited at the same time. I haven’t felt like this since childbirth, really. Because I knew childbirth was going to hurt. But it’s also stepping out of your comfort zone. At the beginning of the year, I said, “I’m open to new adventures.” And once I do it, then the doors will open for so many other people who thought, Okay, I was one of those reluctant people, but now I’m here and I am really, really excited to go.
Aisha Bowe: My first thought was, Wow. I feel like I’ve been training for and waiting for this moment my entire life. I remember working at NASA as an aerospace engineer and having the opportunity to walk through the vertical assembly building with a NASA astronaut, José M. Hernández. And José applied to the Astronaut Corps about 13 times before he was selected. He’s an inspiration. I wanted to go to space, but I didn’t think it was possible. I was afraid to do it. I was afraid to even dream about it. And I started to say to myself, You know what, Aisha? Why are you afraid of the one thing that you’ve waited your entire life to do? Just go do it. And so when I got the call, I realized that it wasn’t “No” back then—it was “Not right now,” and now is the time.
Amanda Nguyen: I thought, About time. It’s a dream come true, and for me it was a dream deferred. I worked at NASA, I studied the stars—astrophysics at Harvard and MIT—but life got in the way. Gender-based violence is a big reason why so many women in STEM don’t continue on with their training, and I was one of those women. After I was sexually assaulted, I traded my telescope to fight for my rights as a sexual assault survivor. I drafted the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights, passed it in Congress and at the United Nations. And then, after 10 years, I was like, I want to honor the person that I was before I was hurt.
Kerianne Flynn: I’ve been waiting to do this for a long time. I grew up in a small town in Michigan, and I always looked up at the stars with my grandfather. He would talk about celestial events and explain the astronomy of the sky. I wondered, What is out there, and what is up there? But going through the rest of my life—my career, my education—it just didn’t seem like something that was attainable. So when this opportunity came along, especially to be part of a historic all-female crew, I felt honored and excited. I can’t wait to touch down on Earth and share what we bring back with the world.
On Making History
AN: My parents are boat refugees from Vietnam. We came on boats, and now we’re on spaceships. I’m just so grateful for the opportunity and to do it with such icons. This year is actually the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War, or as they know it, the American War. There are these two parts of myself, as a Vietnamese American woman, that were former enemies. And for me, the science that I’ll be doing in partnership with the International Space Center is about using science as a tool for peace and reconciliation.
AB: As the first person of Bahamian heritage to fly into space, I’m particularly excited about the opportunity to share this with my grandfather. I recently lost my father, who came from The Bahamas to study in the United States because he wanted to work for NASA. And it was a dream that I then carried. When my dad found out that I was flying with Blue Origin, he sent me a text message and he said, “I’m so proud of you.” He said, “All the people who came before me are proud of you, and all the people who come after me are proud of you. And I’m honored to be able to say in this moment that you’re making history.” I wish my dad would have had the opportunity to see this, but in honor of him, we actually have a star. And so I’ll be carrying his star with me when I go.
GK: [Most people at this table are saying], “This has been a dream of mine.” I can honestly say it has never been a dream of mine. But I was having a conversation with Katy, and she said, “Well, maybe you need to get different dreams.” And I just thought, Wow.
LS: I thought becoming a pilot was a huge dream, and that happened and it was amazing, but I never dreamed of going to space. I didn’t even think it was a possibility. Ever. And now I’m like, Oh my gosh, we’re actually doing it. Jeff [Bezos] was telling Katy and myself: “It’s going to change you more than you know.”
On Getting Glammed Up for Their Flight
ELLE: This will be the first time anybody went to space with their hair and makeup done.
LS: Who would not get glam before the flight?!
KP: Space is going to finally be glam. Let me tell you something. If I could take glam up with me, I would do that. We are going to put the “ass” in astronaut.
AB: I also wanted to test out my hair and make sure that it was okay. So I skydived in Dubai with similar hair to make sure I would be good—took it for a dry run.
LS: We’re going to have lash extensions flying in the capsule!
GK: Will the lashes stay on? I’m curious.
LS: Mine are glued on. They’re good.
AN: I think it’s so important for people to see us like that. This dichotomy of engineer and scientist, and then beauty and fashion. We contain multitudes. Women are multitudes. I’m going to be wearing lipstick.
On Reconciling Motherhood With Space Travel
KF: When I first was looking into being a civilian going into space and expressed interest and signed up, I told my son about it. He was three years old at the time, and he went back to his preschool and started telling his classmates, “My mom’s going to space. My mom’s going to space.” And he came home just really devastated and upset because all the kids in his class were calling him a liar. And they went to the teacher and said, “Declan said his mom’s going to space. Is his mom going to space?” And the teachers were like, “I don’t think so.” It was a really tough moment. I didn’t go into the classroom or correct anyone, but it just feels like it’s not something that women were known for doing—going to space. Moms don’t do it. And so now I have the opportunity as a female filmmaker to be part of this incredible crew, to actually go to space and bring that experience back.
LS: And you said, and this is what I remember the most, one of the kids said, “Moms don’t go to space.”
KF: Yes, exactly. “Moms don’t go to space.”
LS: Guess what? Moms go to space.
KP: [My daughter] Daisy wants to go, but she wants the rocket to be pink.
LS: I know a guy. I know a guy.
GK: My kids are potty-trained and grown, but their opinion matters to me. So if either one of them had said, “No, I’m worried. I don’t think you should do it,” I wouldn’t be, but they both thought it was very cool. My grandson, who’s three and a half, thinks it’s the coolest thing. He will be there at the launch. He already has a little astronaut uniform.
KP: Grandmas go to space too!
On What They’re Taking With Them
LS: I have a little stuffed animal, Flynn, that I’m bringing. I wrote a children’s book [The Fly Who Flew to Space] about a little dyslexic fly named Flynn who accidentally gets stuck in a rocket and sees the world and comes back a completely different fly. I’m also bringing some other things that are very personal, but I’m going to keep that to myself for now.
KP: I’m going to bring something that has life in it just to remind us how precious the Earth is.
AB: I have a few things. I’ll be returning the flag from Apollo 12 [the second mission to the moon] to space. Nancy Conrad, who is the wife of Pete Conrad, the third man to walk on the moon, is a mentor and inspiration to me. She said, “Your journey parallels Pete’s in so many ways, and so I want you to carry this flag.” And thanks to the Museum of Flight in Seattle, I actually have the Apollo 12 flag, and that’s going to fly with me. It’s a powerful symbol of the past, the present, and the future of space. I think we look like the future. I also partnered with Winston-Salem State University, an HBCU in North Carolina, to bring plant samples from their Astrobotany Lab with me. And the fun thing I’m bringing is conch chowder, because it is big in The Bahamas. I cannot wait to take that national dish, which brings me so much pride. It was my comfort food growing up. We’re dehydrating it and I’m taking it in a small ramekin.
AN: I’m bringing two things: My mother’s shells from the island she’s a refugee from; and then the other thing is a promise that I made to myself [after my assault]. After I left the hospital, I wrote down, “Never ever give up,” and I taped it to my laptop. I looked at it every day when I was graduating and when I was fighting for my rights—and I will be looking at it for the flight.
GK: I’m going to bring pictures, for sure. But then I want to bring something of my grandson’s that means something to him. There’s also music that I want—I don’t even know if we could listen to music, but I like the idea of that.
LS: Well, Katy can just sing up there.
KF: You’d be the first [music artist] in space to sing.
KP: I feel like I should.
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On What Part of the Trip They’re Most Looking Forward to
GK: I’m looking forward to weightlessness, seeing what that feels like. And then I’m looking forward to just seeing what space looks like. So number one, I plan to open my eyes. [Laughs] I think it puts everything in perspective, because I know that there’s more than just us down here. So I want to be up there and looking down to see what that looks like and what that feels like. Everybody who has gone to space says you are forever changed by it. I want to know what that means for me. Because listen, I’m not a brave person. I’m not. People come up and say, “I’m so proud you’re doing this.” I think I’ll be really proud of myself once we do it, and I’m looking forward to that.
KF: I’m looking forward to looking out into the vastness of space. I will obviously look down on our beautiful planet to get that perspective and hopefully experience the overview effect, too. And I’m crossing my fingers that we go at a time when we’ll also be able to see the moon. I feel a real connection to the moon, and I think that would be really special. I’m also interested to get to know the person I am when we land on the other side.
LS: I have no idea what it’s going to be like. The fact that we’re going to be able to come back and inspire people and bring people together excites me the most. Little girls and little boys are going to be more curious about space and what else is out there because we’re bringing attention to it. It will be great to inspire a new generation.
AB: Exactly. You’re going to see six people who are going to come back and be forever changed. But we’re also going to inspire people who are going to have an opportunity to go to space in countries that don’t even have space flight programs. When I started working at NASA, I never could have conceived that a company that wasn’t created yet would put me in the sky. I’m also partnering with Blue Origin and the Club For The Future program [which sends postcards to space], and have been traveling around for the last year and a half collecting dreams from kids all around the world. And those are flying to space with me. Thanks to Lauren and Jeff, those postcards are going back to those kids afterward. So kids in India, Kenya, France, and The Bahamas are going to get their postcard from space back. Even the prime minister of The Bahamas wrote a postcard.
On How They’re Personally Preparing for the Journey
GK: I’m starting to meditate. I tried it years ago, but one of these women said, “I have the perfect person for you.” So he’s coming to my house. I have some sessions planned before we go up just to help me with [my anxiety].
AB: I’ve been training for this in some way or another for the last year, but recently I turned up the intensity. I just completed a NASTAR simulation, where I had the opportunity to actually experience what I can expect to encounter on the flight. For me, the physical preparation is really important. I want to have my body know what it feels like to go up. We’ve got a fighter jet flight booked, and I’m really excited about that.
KF: I’ve done several zero-gravity simulation flights. They carve out a Boeing 747 and fly the plane in a parabolic pattern, so when the plane descends, everyone floats up. That was to get used to the feeling of weightlessness. So I think I’m going to have some fun with that when we’re up. I also did the NASTAR training in Philadelphia and experienced up to five Gs of pressure.
On Whom They Dedicate Their Space Flight To
AN: Somebody said to me recently, “The reason why you left [your dreams to go to] space behind is how you’re getting to fly now.” When Blue Origin reached out, they said, “We want to uplift your women’s rights work.” So I’m flying for two people—one of course is my community, as the first Vietnamese woman. The other is all survivors of sexual violence. For so many of us, healing is such a difficult path that we don’t know if we’re ever going to make it through. And when I look at that note, I hope that is a healing moment for me. It will be a full circle moment that I can share with other survivors—your dreams still matter; the person you were before you were hurt still matters. And not only do your dreams still matter, they can come true—even flying in space.
AB: I’m dedicating this flight to everybody who was told their dream was too big. I was told that I would never get into the aerospace program that I went to, that it was unlikely I was going to work for NASA. So if there’s one thing that people take away from this, it’s that there is nothing that you can’t do, and you cannot allow others to define success for your life.
KF: I’m doing this to leave a legacy for my family. I’m doing it for my son. We are the future of space travel. Sending civilians to space will become something that everyone will have an opportunity to do one day. And I feel honored to be one of the pioneers among these women to make this possible for future generations. I want to leave something for my son to be proud of and want to be an inspiration for any future generations.
KP: I’m flying for my daughter, Daisy, to inspire her to never have limits on her dreams and show her that any type of person can reach their dreams—no matter your background, your ethnicity, your economic situation, or your education level. She’s already such a big dreamer and she’s only four. But also to inspire a whole new generation and make space and science glam.
LS: For the next generation of explorers. There are going to be children out there who are going to see this incredible group of explorers and go, “I want to do that.” And by the way, it could be, “I want to be a journalist,” “I want to be an activist,” “I want to be a musician,” “I want to be a rocket scientist.” It’s not just about this trip. It’s about the fact that they’re seeing that all of these incredible explorers do other things as well.
GK: I feel that too. I like to think that for anybody who can look at me and say, “If she can do that, so can I.” Anybody who knows me is stunned that I’m sitting at the table with this group of people. I’m kind of stunned myself. But I want people to know that you are far more capable of things than you realize. And I am a living example of that. So I’m dedicating this to showing people that number one, it’s okay to have dreams. Dreams do not have deadlines. And if you think that you’re afraid of something, release the fear and do things that you don’t think are possible.
Set design by Peter Gueracague Studio; produced by Crawford & Co Productions.
