The first all-female crewed spaceflight in over 60 years concluded safely on Monday as the Blue Origin NS-31 mission successfully touched down at 9:40 AM EDT (8:40 AM CDT).
In a historic moment for women in spaceflight, the space capsule carrying six female crew members reached an altitude of over 346,000 feet before safely returning to Earth in just over 10 minutes, giving each member a total of 5 minutes in space.
The NS-31 female crew included pop star Katy Perry, journalist Gayle King, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, film producer Kerianne Flynn, and journalist Lauren Sánchez.
As the crew experienced a few minutes of microgravity at the edge of space, their excitement could be heard over live radio.
“Look at the moon!” one of the female astronauts could be heard saying on a live transmission from aboard the Blue Origin spacecraft.
“Oh my Goddess,” another of the astronauts said, while one added, “Look at our pink moon!”
The mission control room gave the women around one minute to view out the capsule’s window before it descended back to Earth, in what Blue Origin called “a perfect landing” that touched down in the West Texas desert.
What an amazing crew! Great flight this morning. pic.twitter.com/4h5fNGpRRO
— Dave Limp (@davill) April 14, 2025
Sánchez, the first to exit the capsule, was greeted with a hug from Bezos. Perry followed, emerging and kissing the ground before raising a daisy in tribute to her daughter, Daisy Dove.
“Daisies are common flowers, but they grow through anything, even cement,” Perry said in a post-flight interview. “They’re strong, they’re everywhere, and they remind me of the beauty all around us.” Perry said she ranked the successful flight second only to motherhood.
King, who has a deep fear of flying, overcame her fears and said the journey was transformative. “This wasn’t a ride. It was a bonafide frickin’ flight,” she said, beaming. “If everyone could experience the peace and kindness we felt up there, the world would be a better place.”
Flynn described the view of Earth from space as “the most incredible experience” of her life. Reflecting on the mission, Nguyen said, “No dream is too wild.” Bowe added that seeing Earth without borders or boundaries was “beautiful beyond words.”
With more pop culture figures at the landing than scientists and former astronauts, attendees included Kris Jenner and Khloé Kardashian, alongside Gale’s best friend Oprah Winfrey.
Not everyone was as excited about the NS-31 launch, with some critics calling Monday’s launch more of a publicity stunt than an advancement for women in space exploration.
Actress Olivia Munn called the mission “gluttonous,” highlighting the disparity between the luxury of space tourism and the economic struggles many face in North America and worldwide.
Some also criticized the choice of pop star Katy Perry to lead the mission rather than former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, while others focused on Jeff Bezos’s controversial labor practices and donations to organizations opposing abortion rights.
In the past, a group of former Blue Origin employees went public with concerns about the company’s safety culture, saying “Blue Origin has been lucky that nothing has happened so far.”
Similar concerns involving past launches of Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket include a 2022 mission that experienced an engine nozzle failure.
The Blue Origin NS-31 flight marked New Shepard’s 11th crewed mission of 31 total flights, the latest in a recent tradition of celebrity passengers that include William Shatner and Michael Strahan.
Chrissy Newton is a PR professional and founder of VOCAB Communications. She currently appears on The Discovery Channel and Max and hosts the Rebelliously Curious podcast, which can be found on The Debrief’s YouTube Channel on all audio podcast streaming platforms. Follow her on X: @ChrissyNewton and at chrissynewton.com.