In a historic move, private space company Blue Origin, owned by Jeff Bezos, is set to launch its first all-female spaceflight on April 14. The crew includes pop star Katy Perry, TV personality Gayle King, and Bezos’s fiancée, Lauren Sánchez. While this marks a significant moment in space travel, it’s also the first all-woman crew since Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova’s solo mission in 1963.
However, the mission isn’t without its critics — or caveats. The flight will be fully automated, with no one piloting the rocket. The journey will last approximately 11 minutes, including about four minutes of weightlessness. The crew has also made headlines for planning to travel in full glam, with eyelash glue and professional hair and makeup, potentially making them the first to do so en route to space.
On a recent episode of TODAY with Jenna & Friends, Olivia offered a candid take on the mission, questioning its purpose. “Why? I know this probably isn’t the cool thing to say, but there are so many other important things happening in the world right now,” she said. “There’s one astronaut — what are you guys going to do up in space?”
She likened the brief flight to a rollercoaster and questioned the need to publicize it so widely. “If you wanna go to space, why do you need to tell us about it?” Olivia added. “It’s so much money to go to space, and some people can’t even afford eggs.”
Reacting to the crew’s plans for full makeup and styling, Olivia was visibly stunned. “They said this out loud? What’s the point?” she asked. “Is it historic that you’re going on a ride? I think it’s a bit gluttonous.”
While the mission aims to break new ground in space tourism and representation, it has also sparked a broader conversation about priorities, privilege, and the optics of high-profile space travel.
