One small step for women, among so many before

The Blue Origin space flight recently garnered significant attention on social media for its all-female “space crew,” which notably included Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyễn, Gayle King, Katy Perry, Kerianne Flynn, and Lauren Sánchez.

Blue Origin is far from NASA, though. The company, owned by Jeff Bezos, is more catered towards space tourism, and used the space flight as a marketing ploy.

And it worked; social media is buzzing about this flight, which took the crew up to the Karman line, the boundary between the atmosphere and space, and kept them there for 11 minutes.

The company’s portrayal of the crew as “trailblazers” and “astronauts” on a “mission,” complete with a mission patch, was excessive for what was essentially space tourism, not a breakthrough in space exploration.

While the criticism the crew received was harsh and sometimes sexist, it’s important to note that only one crew member, Bowe, an aerospace engineer, was remotely qualified to be considered an astronaut. The rest were simply wealthy individuals who could afford the $28 million cost.  King, despite being a respected journalist who I look up to, was not an astronaut.

It’s disheartening that the recent spaceflight has overshadowed the significant contributions of women like Katherine Johnson and Sally Ride to space exploration. (They’re who I think about when I think of female trailblazers.)

Johnson, a brilliant mathematician, was instrumental in calculating orbital mechanics for NASA’s early missions, including the Space Shuttle program. A pioneer in using computers for complex calculations, she was also known as a “human computer.” I highly recommend watching “Hidden Figures.” It explains her story so well.

Ride, the first American woman in space, accumulated over 343 hours in orbit and achieved numerous accomplishments throughout her career. Many other women have made significant contributions to space exploration and calling this trip “trailblazing” diminishes their achievements.

The Blue Origin flight’s place in history is uncertain. While it could be discussed in future classrooms, it’s also possible that it will fade into obscurity over time. Regardless of its future significance, the flight does raise important questions about the future of space tourism.

Space tourism is currently inaccessible to most people, but I believe it will become more accessible with time. If only trained astronauts were allowed to travel to space, it would severely limit our options for leisure. Think about the airplane: if only trained pilots could ride, we wouldn’t have as much convenience in our travels.

Space tourism will one day be as common as air travel, providing another opportunity to appreciate the wonders of God’s creation. Astronauts may become the pilots of the future, and while I may never be one, I would certainly enjoy being a passenger. But while I’m up there, I’ll be thinking of Sally Ride, not Katy Perry. (Though I might be listening to “E.T.”)