Blue Origin and New SHEPARD RLV

A very starry crew.


NEWS | FEB 27, 2025
Blue Origin Announces Crew For New Shepard’s 31st Mission

New Shepard’s 11th Human Flight, NS-31, Will Launch This Spring with Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyen, Gayle King, Katy Perry, Kerianne Flynn, and Lauren Sánchez

Blue Origin today announced the six people flying on its NS-31 mission. The crew includes Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyen, Gayle King, Katy Perry, Kerianne Flynn, and Lauren Sánchez, who brought the mission together. She is honored to lead a team of explorers on a mission that will challenge their perspectives of Earth, empower them to share their own stories, and create lasting impact that will inspire generations to come.

Meet the NS-31 Crew

Aisha Bowe

Aisha is a former NASA rocket scientist, entrepreneur, and global STEM advocate. She is the CEO of STEMBoard, an engineering firm recognized twice on the Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing private companies, and the founder of LINGO, an edtech company on a mission to equip one million students with essential tech skills. Of Bahamian heritage, Aisha hopes her journey from community college to space will inspire young people in the Bahamas and around the world to pursue their dreams.

Amanda Nguyen

Amanda is a bioastronautics research scientist. She graduated from Harvard, and conducted research at Harvard Center for Astrophysics, MIT, NASA, and International Institute for Astronautical Sciences. Amanda worked on the last NASA shuttle mission, STS-135, and the Kepler exoplanet mission. For her advocacy for sexual violence survivors, she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and awarded TIME’s Woman of the Year. As the first Vietnamese and Southeast Asian woman astronaut, Amanda’s flight is a symbol of reconciliation between the United States and Vietnam, and will highlight science as a tool for peace.

Gayle King

Gayle is an award-winning journalist, co-host of CBS Mornings, editor-at-large of Oprah Daily, and the host of Gayle King in the House on SiriusXM radio. In a career spanning decades, King has been recognized as a gifted, compassionate interviewer able to break through the noise and create meaningful conversations. As someone who is staying open to new adventures, even ones that scare her, Gayle is honored to be part of Blue Origin’s first all-female flight team and is looking forward to stepping out of her comfort zone.

Katy Perry

Katy is the biggest-selling female artist in Capitol Records’ history and one of the best-selling music artists of all time with over 115 billion streams. Aside from being a global pop superstar, Katy is an active advocate of many philanthropic causes, including as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador where she uses her powerful voice to ensure every child’s right to health, education, equality, and protection, and her own Firework Foundation, which empowers children from underserved communities by igniting their inner light through the arts. Katy is honored to be a part of Blue Origin's first all-female crew and hopes her journey encourages her daughter and others to reach for the stars, literally and figuratively.

Kerianne Flynn

After a successful career in fashion and human resources, Kerianne Flynn has spent the last decade channeling her energy into community-building through board service and nonprofit work with The Allen-Stevenson School, The High Line, and Hudson River Park. Passionate about the transformative power of storytelling, Kerianne has produced thought-provoking films such as This Changes Everything (2018), which explores the history of women in Hollywood, and LILLY (2024), a powerful tribute to fair-pay advocate Lilly Ledbetter. Kerianne has always been drawn to exploration, adventure, and space, and hopes her Blue Origin space flight serves as an inspiration for her son, Dex, and the next generation of dreamers to reach for the stars.

Lauren Sánchez

Lauren is an Emmy Award-winning journalist, New York Times bestselling author, pilot, Vice Chair of the Bezos Earth Fund, and mother of three. In 2016, Sánchez, a licensed helicopter pilot, founded Black Ops Aviation, the first female-owned and operated aerial film and production company. Sánchez released her New York Times bestselling debut children's book, The Fly Who Flew to Space, in 2024. Her work in aviation earned her the Elling Halvorson Vertical Flight Hall of Fame Award in 2024 for her expertise as a helicopter pilot and aviation businesswoman. Sánchez’s goal is to inspire the next generation of explorers.

This mission will be the 11th human flight for the New Shepard program and the 31st in its history. To date, the program has flown 52 people above the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary of space. This is the first all-female flight crew since Valentina Tereshkova’s solo spaceflight in 1963.

The flight will launch this spring. To fly on a future New Shepard mission, go to BlueOrigin.com/New-Shepard/Fly.

Follow Blue Origin on X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Threads, and YouTube, and sign up on BlueOrigin.com to stay current on all mission details.
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news.slashdot.org

More Random Rich People Are Going To Space - Slashdot

Blue Origin on Thursday announced the crew for its next mission. "The crew most notably includes popstar Katy Perry and broadcast journalist Gayle King. They will be joined by two scientists -- Aisha Bowe and Amanda Nguyen -- as well as Jeff Bezos' fiancee, TV personality Lauren Sanchez and film...
news.slashdot.org
 
David Limp Linkedin [Mar 31]

Obviously the best data comes from flying, and we learned a lot from New Glenn’s first mission. We’re confident that the propellant and bleed control work we’re doing will increase our chances of landing the booster on our next flight. And like we’ve said all along, we’ll keep trying until we do.
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So that means she won't travel the world on vacation?

That said I loved her on G4.
 
I mean, all of Shepards flights are pretty pointless. It’s tourism service for the ultra rich which doubles as a promotional vehicle for bezos. There was value it build a smaller recoverable rocket as a test bed of new Glenn, but certainly any value there has long since been realized.
 

New Glenn Awarded Critical National Security Space Launch Contract​

Blue Origin won a contract today to serve as a National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 2 heavy-lift provider for the nation’s most critical missions. We’re proud to support the Department of Defense and the National Reconnaissance Office in this effort. The award marks an important step to expand the choice of launch providers and sustained competition for assured access to space. For more information about today’s award, go here.
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Josh_TN said:
I mean, all of Shepards flights are pretty pointless. It’s tourism service for the ultra rich which doubles as a promotional vehicle for bezos. There was value it build a smaller recoverable rocket as a test bed of new Glenn, but certainly any value there has long since been realized.
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There is a market for organisations such as NASA and ESA to use the New Shepard for microgravity experiments that can be done better than in a sounding-rocket or can only be done with the scientist actively controlling the experiment.
 
And they are back. Congratulations to all the new Astronettes

Also, probably one of the funniest space launch live stream ever: ladies cozily chatting all the way up... And screaming all the way down.
BO scientifically just proved you can go to space while doing the... normal things ;)
 
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Well done to the astronauts (we can call them that can't we?) on their launch into space and a safe landing.
 
All this exhibitionism reminds me of the air records of the thirties, they were a good idea to encourage aerodynamic research: retractable landing gears, high altitude equipment, superchargers... but I find it unnecessary to use women, African Americans and any other minority for the phrase: "the first person of color in space". It is simply childish and when a story is poorly constructed the social impact when the first fatal accident occurs will greatly damage this nascent private aerospace industry.

 
Josh_TN said:
I mean, all of Shepards flights are pretty pointless. It’s tourism service for the ultra rich
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Just like airline travel in its beginning stages..

Flying was a novel, upscale experience reserved for the wealthiest members of society and business travelers.
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www.airwaysmag.com

The History of Commercial Flight: How Global Travel Took off

This is how commercial flights went from being exclusively for the wealthy to the mainstream and affordable option they are today.
www.airwaysmag.com www.airwaysmag.com
But how did commercial flights go from being exclusively for the wealthy to the mainstream and affordable option they are today? Artemis Aerospace guides us through the different decades of air travel and how it has shaped modern-day living.
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Despite flying being incredibly dangerous and extremely expensive during this period, it was still a fashionable way to travel for the rich.
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airandspace.si.edu

The Evolution of the Commercial Flying Experience

Learn more about the evolution of the commercial flying experience in the United States using objects from the Museum's collection.
airandspace.si.edu airandspace.si.edu
Who Flew?
Mostly pilots. Most early airplanes could carry only a single extra person, if any. Few passenger-carrying airlines existed, and none survived for very long. Those that did catered to wealthy travelers who could afford the expensive ticket prices.
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Who Flew?
Flying was very expensive. Only business travelers and the wealthy could afford to fly.
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Justo Miranda said:
... but I find it unnecessary to use women, African Americans and any other minority for the phrase: "the first person of color in space".

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That's part of spaceflight evangelism---the more flights like this--the more isolated the Olivia Munns will be--otherwise you run the risk of turning the ladies off space.

We can't all be Frank Borman--someone who could beat a giant squid in a staring contest.

That they were chatting away on ascent--a good sign.
 
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That was pretty much how things stood until Thursday evening, when the Secretary of the US Department of Transportation, Sean Duffy, shared some thoughts on the social media site X.

"The last FAA guidelines under the Commercial Space Astronaut Wings Program were clear: Crewmembers who travel into space must have 'demonstrated activities during flight that were essential to public safety, or contributed to human space flight safety,'" Duffy wrote. "The crew who flew to space this week on an automated flight by Blue Origin were brave and glam, but you cannot identify as an astronaut. They do not meet the FAA astronaut criteria."

So there it was: The leading US official on transportation declaring that Perry et. al. were not astronauts. This is a pretty striking statement.

For starters the Federal Aviation Administration, an agency within the US Department of Transportation Duffy leads, has previously said it will take no part in determining whether people who fly on suborbital flights are astronauts. The agency makes this clear on its human spaceflight page, stating: "The FAA no longer designates anyone as an ‘astronaut.’ In addition, the FAA does not define where space begins."
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arstechnica.com

Trump official to Katy Perry and Bezos’ fiancée: “You cannot identify as an astronaut”

It turns out the FAA now takes no role in identifying who is an astronaut.
arstechnica.com arstechnica.com
 
View: https://youtu.be/duq_vwygYXE


This is the inside story of NS-31 — the flight, the fallout, and the future or the civilian space era.

A week after hosting Blue Origin’s historic NS-31 launch, space journalist Kristin Fisher sits down with two other women who were there — astronaut Dr. Cady Coleman and Rachel Lyons, former Executive Director of Space for Humanity — to reflect on the mission, the backlash, and what it really means for the future of spaceflight.

Why did this all-female flight ignite so much controversy?
Should the NS-31 crew be called astronauts?
Does suborbital space tourism matter?
How did it feel to see this mission go viral — for the wrong reasons?

Featuring:
Kristin Fisher — Emmy Award-winning journalist & NS-31 launch host
Dr. Cady Coleman — NASA Astronaut (ret.)
Rachel Lyons — Board Member, Space for Humanity

TIMECODES
00:00 - NS-31: What Happened and Why It Mattered
02:16 - We Were There: Our Roles in the Mission
06:00 - Why the Backlash? Processing the Criticism
10:26 - Who Gets to Be Called an Astronaut?
15:58 - Celebrities in Space: Distraction or Amplifier?
18:31 - The Overlooked Crew: Amanda Nguyen & Aisha Bowe
23:03 - Lauren Sanchez: The Woman Behind the Mission
26:10 - Can We Really Democratize Space?
27:54 - Is Suborbital Spaceflight Worth It?
31:53 - We Should Have Sent a Poet: Artists in Space
33:10 - Industry Envy: Inside the Space Sector’s Criticism
35:39 - Final Thoughts: What This Mission Means Going Forward
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