Pop singer Katy Perry and TV presenter Gayle King launched into space on Monday, taking part in Blue Origin's 11th space tourism launch.
The all-female crew lifted off at 9:30 a.m. ET in the New Shepard suborbital spacecraft, called NS-31, from the company's Launch Pad 1, located about 30 miles from Van Horn, Texas.
New Shepard landed at 9:39 a.m., and the crew parachuted back to Earth, landing in their capsule in a cloud of dust next to the rocket at 9:42 a.m. after a short flight.
The crew left the capsule shortly after 9:50 a.m.
“I'm incredibly excited for this launch,” Perry shared in an Instagram video on Monday, adding that she would make a special announcement once she reached zero gravity.
Oprah Winfrey, who was at the launch, posted a video of King and the rest of the NS-31 crew heading to the launch pad, and it showed King apparently wiping away tears.
The NS-31 mission crew also includes former rocket scientist Aisha Boe, researcher and Nobel Prize nominee Amanda Nguyen, filmmaker Kerianne Flynn and journalist Lauren Sanchez.
Their destination is the boundary between Earth's atmosphere and space, better known as the Karman line, where they will be in a state of weightlessness for about four minutes after arrival.
Sourse: www.upi.com
