Now that Gayle King and her crewmates have returned to Earth, they are already planning their next mission.
The CBS Mornings star and five other women participated in a historic and controversial Blue Origin New Shepard rocket flight to an area considered space several weeks ago.
Due to the current economic climate and the fact that Amazon founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos also founded Blue Origin, backlash arrived and continued towards Gayle and others involved in the mission.
Gayle’s crewmates included singer Katy Perry, filmmaker Kerianne Flynn, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe, and author Lauren Sanchez.
While the women celebrated their journey, online naysayers and celebrity critics continued to slam them for the trip. However, one Jersey Shore star seemingly defended them.
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Amid the ongoing uproar, Gayle and her crewmates seem to be moving on, including plans for another mission for the Blue Origin crew.
Gayle revealed the Blue Origin crew’s next big mission
While at the 19th annual TIME100 Gala, Gayle had much to say about the experience of flying to space with five other women. She spoke about the uniqueness of the women involved and their bonding.
“It was Katy, and it was Lauren, it was names you know, but to me, Amanda Nguyen, Aisha Bowe, Carrie Anne Flynn, these women who were rocket scientists… astrophysicists . . . filmmakers and all their backstories, that to me was such a bonding experience for all of us. We’ll never forget it,” Gayle told Fox News Digital.
The Blue Origin New Shepard rocket launched and returned on April 14. With the initial 11-minute trip to and from space completed, everyone is likely wondering if Gayle and her crewmates will next visit the moon.
However, she and her Blue Origin crew won’t be betting back into their rocket anytime soon. Instead, they have other plans.
“We were on a text chain today saying, we need to all go to Katy’s concert. Which city can we go and when? That’s our next group activity,” she shared with Fox News Digital.
Katy is wearing a space-themed costume on her global tour
After leaving American Idol as a judge, Katy started her worldwide Lifetimes tour. Performances feature her in a hi-tech spacesuit costume that the UK’s Daily Mail said is Star Wars-themed, like the shiny robot character C-3PO.
As of this writing, Katy’s tour is in Mexico, but she’ll return to the United States on May 7 for a performance in Houston, Texas. Some upcoming stops include Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Chicago, Illinois.
Gayle’s home base is typically New York with CBS Mornings, so she might have to wait until August if she and her crewmates want to see the show in her region. However, the crew assembled in Texas to launch into space with Blue Origin, which could work as a reunion site sooner.
Like Gayle, Katy also received criticism for going to space. Even Wendy’s made jabs at her for the space trip.
Gayle King expressed the goals of Blue Origin to help others
In previous remarks, Gayle defended herself and her crewmates from the severe backlash they received from critics. She said the trip wasn’t “frivolous” and mentioned that Blue Origin was looking for ways to remove waste from the Earth and put it somewhere in space.
That wasn’t necessarily related to what the women did on their April 14 trip, which lasted 11 minutes. Instead, videos surfaced of them having fun with weightlessness in the capsule and other moments as they looked out windows to enjoy the scenery from space.
According to Gayle, technology continues to advance rapidly in interesting ways, including potential space travel for anyone who wants to participate.
“The goal, I know, is to one day that everybody can experience it, who wants to, and I don’t think that’s such a far-fetched idea,” she said amid the continuing backlash.
It’s worth noting that the deposit for consideration to travel on Blue Origin’s rocket is $150,000, per Fox News Digital. The actual cost of traveling to space is unknown, but it could be costly. Concert tickets seem more reasonable for most people, whether they choose Katy Perry or another artist they prefer over the controversial singer.