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The award-winning "E.T." and "Firework" singer will fly on a firework of her own when she joins the first all-female crew to launch on a Blue Origin New Shepard rocket later this year. The mission, which lifts off this spring, is led by Lauren Sánchez - partner of Blue Origin's billionaire founder Jeff Bezos - who has recruited a esteemed team of celebrities, scientists and journalists to join her on the flight.
"Katy is honored to be a part of Blue Origin's first all-female crew and hopes her journey encourages her daughter and others to reach for the stars, literally and figuratively," Blue Origin said in a statement.
Sánchez and Perry will launch on a suborbital spaceflight from Blue Origin's West Texas pad alongside STEMBoard CEO and former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, film producer Kerianne Flynn, CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King and bioastronautics research scientist Amanda Nguyen. Their mission will be the first all-female space crew since the Soviet Union launched cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova into orbit to become the first woman in space in 1963. Sánchez hopes the mission will "inspire the next generation of explorers," according to Blue Origin.
"She 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," Blue Origin said in a statement.
Blue Origin announced its all-female NS-31 mission two days after the successful launch of its latest six-person space tourist flight NS-30. That mission carried venture capitalist Lane Bess (a repeat flyer with Blue Origin), Spanish TV host Jesús Calleja, physicist entrepreneur Elaine Chia Hyde, reproductive endocrinologist Richard Scott, hedge fund partner Tushar Shah and a sixth unnamed crewmember to space and back.
Blue Origin will launch an historic all-female crew with Katy Perry, Aisha Bowe, Kerianne Flynn, Gayle King, Amanda Nguyen and Lauren Sánchez.
Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket is a reusable booster and crew capsule built to fly passengers and experiments on short trips to suborbital space. While the rocket's space capsule cannot orbit the Earth, to does fly above the Kármán line 62 miles (100 kilometers) up, widely regarded as the boundary of space. The missions are short, about 11 minutes or so, and allow passengers to experience about 4 minutes of weightlessness and sweeping views of Earth from space through New Shepard's large windows.
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There are no pilots aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard rockets, which fly autonomously.
Tariq is the editor-in-chief of Live Science's sister site Space.com. He joined the team in 2001 as a staff writer, and later editor, focusing on human spaceflight, exploration and space science. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times, covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University.
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