Blue Origin Executes Successful Launch With All-Women Crew

A half-dozen celebrities became astronauts today after a Blue Origin rocket carried them just beyond the edge of space. The flight, which featured an all-women crew, delivers a healthy (and needed) dose of positive publicity for Blue Origin, which is owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Lauren Sánchez, a journalist who is engaged to Jeff Bezos, is one of the women who made the trip to space this morning.

“It is the highest high,” singer Katy Perry said to CNN upon landing. “I couldn’t recommend this experience more.”

Other members of the crew include STEMBoard CEO and former NASA scientist Aisha Bowe, film producer Kerianne Flynn, CBS journalist Gayle King, and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Amanda Nguyen. It’s a star-studded flight crew that made for a high-stakes flight. If the space tourism rocket, known as New Shepard, had suffered a catastrophe, the blowback on Blue Origin would have ...