On Monday, April 14th, Blue Origin’s all-female space expedition comprising of Roar singer Katy Perry, journalist Lauren Sanchez, TV host Gayle King, NASA scientist Aisha Bowe, producer Kerianne Flynn and research scientist Amanda Nyguen took off for their eleven-minute trip to the stars. The New Shepard, Blue Origin’s spaceship upon which the six celebrities rode in, hosted the first all-female space trip since Valentina Tereshkova’s solo trip in 1963 (Elle).

This venture was intended to be a call to action sign for women across the globe. A symbol to show that all women could take the step toward astronaut status and toward careers in STEM in general, which was why they chose celebrities for the mission–to bring awareness to it (Elle). Those eleven minutes were supposed to pave the way for what Grace Acevedo (9) called, “the promised hours”, referring to the hours of space time previous all-male or mixed male-and-female expeditions had comprised instead transferred to an all-female crew of the future. Which is a much needed change, as science teacher and former STEM-career employee Mrs. Romero (S) reasons out, “Personal experience, before I was a teacher I worked in the biotechnology field and it is a male-dominated field. Having more females in the workforce brings more diversity and new ideas. And because of that, not only is the company benefiting from it, so is everyone on a personal level.”

But instead, the present female-crew only seemed to become a mockery. Katy Perry especially was made to be the butt of many jokes when she held a daisy, in honor of her daughter, up while in space (E Online). Online, people have deemed their expedition a case of space tourism, claiming that their trip was only an excuse for six wealthy women to see space without actually contributing to the STEM/aerospace field at all. Celebrity Emily Ratajowski commented in a Tiktok video the same idea, claiming that regular people likely did not care about space when problems like hunger and homelessness still plagued the world (E Online).

Some of the crew members, like Gayle King and Katy Perry, have clapped back at haters. King stated that while their mission was seemingly glamorous, there were real astronauts on the ship that were conducting experiments behind the scenes (Elle). Perry pulled two men dressed as astronauts from the crowd during the first show of her Lifetimes tour, implying a connection between her space venture and her life right now (E Online).

The Blue Origin’s spacecraft The New Sheperd aimed for the stars and fell short in its mission to promote a future for women in STEM. However, The New Shepard’s intent in itself is proof that the goal for women to occupy a larger percent of STEM careers has been established, and the space expedition itself is a first step toward spreading the word around the world.