Astronauts aren’t the only people who are getting opportunities to go into space. Veteran journalist Gayle King will also be among the rare group of humans in world history who will get to visit beyond the stars. But she won’t be alone.
On Thursday, Blue Origin, a private spaceflight company owned by Jeff Bezos, announced an all-women crew that will participate in the company’s 11th human flight mission for their New Shepard program.
Along with King, other people on the crew will be NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, Grammy-award winning singer Katy Perry, journalist Luaren Sánchez, and movie producer Kerianne Flynn.
Sánchez, Bezos’ fiancée, was the woman who selected the crew to embark on this mission.
King spoke about the amazing opportunity on CBS Mornings, saying, “I don’t know how to explain being terrified and excited at the same time. It’s like how I felt about to deliver a baby. I thought I wanted to open myself up to new adventures and step out of my comfort zone.”
She continued, “Once Kirby [Bumpus] and Will [Bumpus] and Oprah was fine with it, I was fine. I thought Oprah would say no, no. She said, ‘I think if you don’t do it, when they all come back and you had the opportunity to do it, you will be kicking yourself.’ She’s right.”
This journey will also make some history since it’ll be the first time since 1963 that an all-women flight crew will go into space. (Valentina Tereshkova’s solo spaceflight was the first).
While a date has not been announced for when this crew will lift off, there are plans for them to go airborne this spring.