Lee Haywood
It’s a little surreal. Like out of Barbarella or Flash Gordon.
It might be because they all attractive women in matching space jumpsuits, flying in a spaceship that resembles a phallic symbol. And for me personally, it didn’t hurt that they were brunettes.
Where was I going with this? Let me try it this way.
From Space.com:
“Blue Origin just launched pop star Katy Perry and five other women on the first manned rocket launch without a man on board since 1963.
New Shepard launched with Blue Origin’s “RSS Kármán Line” space capsule, carrying Perry alongside crew members Gayle King, Lauren Sánchez, Aisha Bowe, Kerianne Flynn and Amanda Nguyen.
Liftoff occurred at 9:30 a.m. EDT (1330 GMT) from Blue Origin’s Launch Site One in West Texas. The whole flight lasted about 10.5 minutes, which offered the NS-31 passengers about four minutes of weightlessness as their capsule arced above the internationally recognized “boundary” of space that resides at an altitude of 62 miles. Though their time in space was short, all six stepped away from the experience feeling a serene sense of awe and humble amazement. “It is the highest high, and it is surrender to the unknown, trust,” Perry said after landing.”
I, for one, think it’s way cool. But this space junket is receiving a lot of flak. It has been criticized by quite a few celebrities, including some of their estrogen laden sisters as being unnecessary and extravagant. Even Wendy’s ( yes, Wendy’s the hamburger chain) got in on the act with a snarky Tweet.
Ok, I’m wondering why Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos is still shooting these things up in the air after he lost the whizzing match to Elon Musk, who is actually flying missions to the space station and saving stranded Boeing astronauts. But is he hurting anyone? The answer is no. So why not give those with the means an opportunity to experience weightlessness, even if only for a few minutes and at the same time, promote commercial space exploration?
I’m more than a little jealous and I also think it’s sort of hot. So let’s leave these Space Chicks alone. OK?
Lee Haywood is a franchise owner for Winzer USA, an MRO supply company based in Plano, TX. He services industrial and government accounts across NC. Lee and his wife Brenda reside in Summerfield, NC and have been married for 39 years. He was born on the cusp of Scorpio and Sagittarius. He is partial to the color red and his lucky number is 3.