THE DIVINE SECRETS OF THE SUBORBITAL YA-YA SISTERHOOD: Blue Origin’s all-female space flight was a step backwards for feminism.
Far be it from me to spoil the party, but this is not space exploration. Sanchez is a former TV presenter, about to get married to one of the world’s richest men who just happens to own the space rocket.
Katy Perry has also been drinking from the same fountain of delusional self-indulgence: ‘I’m really excited…We are all made of stardust and it’ll be exciting to see them twinkle from that site and have such an appreciation for Mother Earth when we see it that way’. She went on to suggest the trip would encourage young girls to go into space in the future with ‘no limitations’. Really? Previous passenger trips with Blue Origin have cost more than $1 million (£760,000) a seat. Only for rich girls, then.
It has been reported that the crew trained for all of two days ahead of the trip. Rather depressingly, much of the coverage of their journey into space featured talk of flared jump suits and other fashion accessories. The female crew appeared more than happy with this agenda, saying that lipstick, eyelash extensions and hair styles matter. The bible of female empowerment, according to Katy Perry, goes like this: ‘Space is finally going to be glam…We are going to put the “ass” in “astronaut”’.
Is it churlish to point out that she is not an astronaut, or certainly not in any conventional sense of the word?
No, it’s accurate. In December of 2021, NBC-DFW 5 reported: No More Commercial Astronaut Wings, Too Many Launching: FAA. Just as sitting in a seat on a 737 doesn’t make you a pilot; sitting in a seat on a fully automated suborbital flight similarly counts as passenger status. Or as former MTV VJ Kennedy writes:
These chicks aren’t astronauts. They’re leg-humping fabulists who ingratiated themselves with a billionaire for a little publicity. They’re space tourists, and their dumb stunt does nothing for humanity or space exploration, regardless of their gametes.
Sorry, sisters, but you’re no Valentina Tereshkova — the first woman in space, who flew on a solo mission in a flimsy Russian craft in 1963 during the Cold War.
That took some real asteroids. And no make-up.
University of Birmingham space scientist Dr Garrett Dorian said it best: ‘Let’s call it what it is and not tell ourselves that this is contributing meaningfully to science or space exploration. I am afraid I do still think these flights are essentially just joyrides for the super-rich.’
Hear hear! Or should I say, Her Her?
Heh, indeed.