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Blue Origin aircraft takes singer Katy Perry to space | Watch
Blue Origin New Shepard mission NS-31, its 11th human flight, lifted off from Launch Site One in West Texas on Monday, April 14, with an all-women crew.
In a historic moment in space tourism, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin launched his fiancee, Lauren Sanchez, into space on Monday with an all-female celebrity crew that included American singer Katy Perry and actor Gayle King.
Blue Origin New Shepard mission NS-31, its 11th human flight, lifted off from Launch Site One in West Texas on Monday, April 14, with an all-women crew.
The New Shepard rocket blasted off on the quick up-and-down trip from West Texas. The fringes of space beckoned some 65 miles (105 kilometers) up, promising a few precious minutes of weightlessness.
Live: Jeff Bezos opens hatch, meets fiancée Lauren Sanchez, Katy Perry and crew after space rendezvous
The historic 11-minute space flight lifted off and landed back on earth at the landing spot in West Texas on Monday with an all-women crew.
Monday's mission is the first all-woman space crew since Valentina Tereshkova's historic solo flight in 1963.
The other members on board are CBS’s Gayle King, producer Kerianne Flynn, former NASA scientist Aisha Bowe, and Amanda Nguyen, a bioastronautics research scientist and advocate for survivors of sexual violence.
What did Katy Perry say about Blue Origin's space flight?
American singer Katy Perry recently told Elle magazine that she was taking part "for my daughter Daisy," whom she shares with actor Orlando Bloom, "to inspire her to never have limits on her dreams."
"I'm just so excited to see the inspiration through her eyes and the light in her eyes when she sees that rocket go, and she goes back to school the next day and says 'Mom went to space,'" Perry added.
She said in a separate video posted to Instagram that she was shocked to discover during space training that the capsule she will travel in was named the "Tortoise" and decorated with a "feather" design -- the two nicknames her parents have for her.
Lauren Sanchez on why she chose an all-women crew?
Sanchez said she deliberately chose women to launch with her, each of them eager to inspire both the young and old to dream big, and she even commissioned special flight suits.
“It's an important moment for the future of commercial space travel and for humanity in general and women all around,” Perry told The Associated Press last week.
Even after the latest launch, women represent barely 15 per cent of the more than 700 people who have travelled into space.
