Five Stars from Space-Tourists, Zero Stars for Space-Tourism

On the 14th April, Blue Origin successfully launched and returned the first all-female spaceflight since Valentina Tereshkova’s solo mission on the USSR’s Vostok 6 in 1963.

Lauren Sánchez, journalist and author (and fiancée to Jeff Bezos), Aisha Bowe, former NASA aerospace engineer turned entrepreneur, Amanda Nguyễn, Nobel Peace Prize nominee and bioastronautics research scientist, producer Kerianne Flynn, journalist and co-host of CBS Mornings Gayle King, and pop-star Katy Perry filled the six spots.

Two of the six passengers took scientific experiments with them on the mission. Bowe had partnered with the Astrobotany Lab of Winston-Salem State University to test how crop plants would respond to microgravity exposure on a molecular level, the results of which will be investigated by students once the samples have been returned. Nguyễn brought with her MIT research which consisted of a variety of fabric samples for potential future spacesuits, including a wearable ultrasound patch, and she planned to conduct experiments on the moisture resistance of materials with regards to wound dressing and menstruation in space. For her third experiment she collaborated with the Vietnam National Space Centre to bring seeds to space for plant pathology research.

But what of Sánchez, King, Perry and Flynn?

Credit: Instagram/@katyperry

During the eleven minute journey, Perry sang a rendition of ‘What a Wonderful World’ and revealed the setlist for her upcoming tour while the remaining three looked out the windows. In case you were wondering, for a $150,000 deposit, you too could tag along.

It is important to note that, despite the backlash, this is not the first mission to fit the ‘space-tourism’ label. The New Shepard has already been on several previous missions, with the total number of human spaceflights now at eleven. Previous passengers include Bezos himself, Laura Shepard Churchley, member of the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation Board of Trustees and daughter of Alan Shepard (the first American in space and namesake of the spacecraft), Wally Funk, aviator and part of the overlooked Mercury 13, Good Morning America co-host and former NFL player Michael Strahan, Emily Calandrelli, aerospace engineer and presenter, Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and various other high-paying, wealthy customers. While some were invited by Bezos to join, others received funding via sponsorships or their own pockets, which begs the question: was the money worth it?

There is more than one cost for space travel - alongside the time and funds required for all of the parts involved in building and launching a rocket, there is an environmental toll. Though Blue Origin says that water vapour will be the only byproduct of New Shepard’s engine combustion, this is still putting a lot of water vapour where water vapour should not be. Though it does not sound as initially threatening as, let’s say, carbon dioxide, water vapour is still a greenhouse gas and will have an impact on the stratosphere.

Credit: Instagram/@katyperry

There has also been a lot of focus on what a big step for feminism this mission is, and ensuring that women are represented in such a historically male-dominated field as space travel is certainly positive, but was this kind of ‘mission’ necessary to support the cause? Four celebrities on a joyride to space does not fill me with confidence. The remaining two passengers, Bowe and Nguyễn, I omit from this list as they have the defence of an educational and work background in space related sciences and helped to conduct experiments whilst on the mission.

However, the fallout from the latest trip mostly surrounds the celebrities’ reactions upon their return to Earth. Perry and King kissing the ground and Sánchez’s tearful declaration: ‘just protect this planet we’re on […] this is the only one we’ve got.’ In the build-up, the women spoke about their hair, eyelashes and designer spacesuits, alongside their excitement and fear.

Nguyễn, perhaps anticipating the reactions this would trigger, reframed the conversation, saying: '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.’

Frankly, I do not care what they planned to wear, or how they planned to do their hair. Whatever makes them comfortable and does not hurt anyone. I cannot change the fact that this mission occurred, I cannot remove the pollution, or redirect the money, which is why it is so important to me that this amounts to something significant, that all of this cannot just be a cash grab, a publicity stunt. If Sánchez is going to remind the world of the importance of protecting the planet, she needs to act on her words, if King and Perry have become so overwhelmed with love for the planet after their joyride, then funnel that newfound enthusiasm into action. These women have immense platforms. Instead of promoting upcoming tours or chastising the public, they need to make the irreversible cost worth it.

Space travel should be reserved for the purpose of advancing humanity when nothing on Earth will suffice in its place, but what is done is done.

King spoke out against the backlash, saying: ‘Space is not an either/or, it’s a both…and, and [just] because you do something in space doesn’t mean you’re taking anything away from Earth and what you’re doing in space is trying to make things better here on Earth. What Blue Origin wants to do is take the waste here and figure out a way to put it in space to make our planet cleaner. I mean, Jeff Bezos has so many ideas and the people that are working there [Blue Origin] are really devoted and dedicated to making our planet a better place, that’s number one. Number two: there was nothing frivolous about what we did […] what it’s doing to inspire other women and young girls, please don’t ignore that.’

Instead of ignoring our harmful impact on the Earth, we seem to have pivoted to jettisoning our problems into space.

What did King add to the mission, you might ask? No science experiments, no scientific education or career, and, by her admission, space travel ‘has never been a dream of mine.’ This is who Amanda Nguyễn, the woman who put her career as an astronaut on hold in order to found Rise, the non-profit to support survivors of sexual assault and rape, and wrote the Sexual Assault Survivor’s Bill of Rights which was signed into federal law by Obama in 2016, went to space with. Was this eleven minute joyride, surrounded by celebrities, really what she had dreamed her induction to space would be? Nguyễn’s activism proves King’s claim that ‘space is not an either/or’ is ridiculous. Nguyễn did not feel she could pursue both activism and space, so she chose to help support survivors of sexual assault first, and to recommence her astronaut preparations afterwards.

However, just in case any of you stumble across a spare $28 million (the winning bid for the first commercial seat on the NS-16 mission in 2021, $19m of which was donated to non-profit organisations), remember Katy Perry’s endorsement: ‘I couldn’t recommend this experience more.’

Five stars from the space-tourists. Zero stars for space-tourism.