Pop star Katy Perry, news personalities Gayle King and Lauren Sanchez to go into space
CBC
Pop star Katy Perry and journalists Gayle King and Lauren Sanchez, who is also billionaire Jeff Bezos's fiancée, are set to blast off into space on a Blue Origin rocket, marking the first all-female flight crew in more than six decades.
The New Shepard rocket, an 18-metre suborbital spacecraft, will carry the crew to the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary of space, Bezos-owned Blue Origin said in a statement.
Passengers will experience a few minutes of microgravity before returning to Earth via parachute-assisted landing in the West Texas desert.
NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, bioastronautics researcher Amanda Nguyen and movie producer Kerianne Flynn will make up the rest of the crew.
The company has not disclosed a date for the mission.
This is the 11th human flight for the rocket and its 31st overall.
The last recorded all-female spaceflight was the 1963 solo mission of Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space.
New Shepard's first crewed flight in July 2021 carried Jeff Bezos and his brother Mark. The rocket has since taken former NFL player Michael Strahan and Star Trek actor William Shatner, who became the oldest person in space at the age to 90.
The company's giant New Glenn rocket blasted off from Florida last month on its first mission to space, an inaugural step into Earth's orbit for Bezos's space company as it aims to rival SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, in the satellite launch business.
Blue Origin, SpaceX and Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic have come under criticism for the environmental impact of their trips into space as the emerging "space tourism" industry grows.
The recreational space flights have been called out by some as hypocritical and a gross display of wealth from businessmen who have publicly portrayed themselves as allies in the fight against climate change.
Two Cree fashion designers who are inspired by family took the chance by leaving their home communities and are following their dreams.
When Eduardo Mercado first heard a humpback whale sing, he was fascinated by their rhythmic, moaning, haunting sounds.
The Northwestern Health Unit has confirmed its first case of measles in the region since an alarming rise in the spread of the disease began across the province and country — even leading to temporary outbreak status in Ontario.