Katy Perry will be going to space. Credit: Gilbert Flores / Getty
The 40-year-old singer will launch on Monday, April 14.
She will take off from Launch Site One.
This site is in West Texas. Blue Origin owns the site.
Jeff Bezos owns Blue Origin.
Five women will join her on the mission. Lauren Sanchez is one of them.
She is an author. She is also dating Jeff Bezos.
Gayle King will also join the crew. She is a TV host.
Amanda Nguyen is part of the team. She is a civil rights activist.
Aisha Bowe will also fly. She is a former rocket scientist.
Kerianne Flynn is the last crew member. She is a filmmaker.
The crew will take a suborbital flight.
The flight will last 11 minutes.
The capsule will soar 100 kilometers above Earth.
This height is enough to officially reach space.
Perry posted on Instagram. She shared a first look inside the space capsule.
She showed the tight space that will hold all six women during the flight.
“I think I’m gonna sing,” she said in the video.
“I’ve got to sing in space!” She also said, “These are all of my astronaut girly friends.”
She panned the camera across the inside of the capsule.
Perry looked excited. But concerns about the capsule’s safety came up again.
In 2021, 21 current and former employees spoke out.
They raised concerns about the safety of the New Shepard rocket. This rocket is used for flights like Perry’s.
An engineer signed the essay. They said, “Blue Origin has been lucky that nothing has happened so far.”
Many of the essay’s authors said they would not fly on a Blue Origin vehicle. Business Insider published the letter.
Space flight is still very risky.
About one percent of U.S. space flights end in fatalities.
Blue Origin responded. The company defended its safety record.
“We stand by our safety record,” the company said.
“We believe New Shepard is the safest space vehicle ever built.”
In August 2022, the safety record faced another test. An unmanned rocket had a malfunction.
The engine nozzle failed during flight.
The capsule aborted the mission. It parachuted safely to the ground.
Blue Origin paused flights after the incident.
Despite the fears, Perry seems to trust a higher power. She shared a personal story on Instagram.
She also reflected on signs from the universe.
“When I was invited to come on this voyage, I looked up the capsule,” she said. “On the very front of it is the outline in the shape of a feather.”
“When I saw that, it felt like total confirmation.”
“My mum has always called me ‘feather,’” she explained.
The ‘Teenage Dream’ singer shared more about her training. “I’m in space training today,” she said.
“There’s a lot to digest.” “We’re almost finished with the day.”
“They showed us the capsule.” “We ran simulations in another capsule.”
“We tested the noise and learned what to expect.” “Then they revealed the capsule’s name.”
“The capsule’s name is Tortoise,” she said. “A wave, the most energetic wave, shot through my body.”
“I thought, ‘What? This capsule’s name is Tortoise?’” She explained why this shocked her.
“My mum calls me two nicknames,” she said. “Feather and Tortoise.”
“What are the chances I’m going to space in a capsule with my symbol, the feather, called Tortoise?”
“There are no coincidences,” Perry said. “I’m so grateful for these confirmations.”
“I’m grateful that I feel like something bigger than me is steering the ship.”
This will be Blue Origin’s 11th human flight.
The company started flying people to space in 2021.
Jeff Bezos flew on one of the early missions.
Blue Origin also works with NASA.
The company has a contract to build a lunar lander.
NASA will use it for a future Artemis mission.
This mission plans to return astronauts to the Moon.
