Against the endless Texas sky—a canvas that’s hosted everything from Beyoncé’s homecoming to Elon’s rocket failures—three blue-and-white parachutes bloomed like unexpected royalty checks. Six women, including pop megastar Katy Perry, floated back to Earth on Monday after shattering more than just the sound barrier.
This wasn’t just another billionaire joyride. When Blue Origin’s New Shepard capsule touched down in the West Texas desert (with the precision of that drummer who never misses a beat at the indie show where nobody’s filming), it completed the first all-female crew mission in U.S. spaceflight history. You know how it feels when someone mansplains something you’re already an expert in? This mission was the opposite of that.
The crew—a lineup more impressive than Lilith Fair’s 1997 main stage—included CBS anchor Gayle King, bioastronautics researcher Amanda Nguyễn, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, Lauren Sánchez and film producer Kerianne Flynn.
During their three precious minutes of weightlessness—about the length of “Bohemian Rhapsody” minus the headbanging part—each woman seized her moment. Perry, whose career has outlasted most space station computers, executed a zero-G twirl that would make Bowie’s Starman jealous. Flynn floated her grandmother’s wedding ring in the capsule, creating an impromptu family heirloom music video that’s probably already being copied on TikTok.
Unlike William Shatner, who emerged from his 2021 flight looking like he’d seen the ghost of every red-shirt crew member, Perry bounced back to Earth with the energy of someone who’s been selling out arenas since MySpace was relevant. For the woman who once sang about feeling like a plastic bag drifting through the wind, actually floating weightless proved to be the ultimate “Firework” moment—a cosmic vindication of every female artist who’s been told to stay in her lane.
“I’ve sung about stars and space for years,” Perry said, somehow managing not to reference her 2010 hit “E.T.” (restraint that deserves its own medal). “This isn’t just a joyride. It’s about showing girls everywhere that science and exploration aren’t just for boys.”
The mission arrives as women remain woefully underrepresented in aerospace—like female guitarists at a vintage gear convention. Recent studies show women make up less than 30% of the space industry workforce, a statistic about as balanced as mainstream festival lineups before the 2017 reckoning.
Bowe, the former NASA scientist who probably had to explain basic orbital mechanics to countless dudes at parties, emphasized the technical achievement. “Every successful flight demonstrates the reliability of this system,” she noted, in what might be the most diplomatic statement ever from someone qualified to calculate exactly how far the patriarchy can be launched into the sun.
The capsule touched down with the precision of that one perfect take in the recording studio—when the band locks in and even the producer stops scrolling on their phone. For Perry, whose career has survived more reinventions than Madonna has farewell tours, this moment transcended chart positions and streaming numbers.
As she noted before boarding the spacecraft, her eyes fixed on the infinite blue above: “The sky is not the limit. It’s just the view.”
