Blue Origin‘s New Shepard rocket had a successful trip into space Monday, but the company’s billionaire founder, Jeff Bezos, ran into turbulence while greeting the returning astronauts.
Minutes after taking an all-female crew of celebrity astronauts to space in a history-making event not seen in 60 years, Bezos was seen falling face-first into a ditch as he tried to greet his fiancée Lauren Sánchez.
Bezos, one of the first members of the Blue Origin team to arrive at the landing site, was running around, trying to find the door to the New Shepard pod, when he appeared to trip over a patch of dirt and landed face-down on the ground in an embarrassing moment for the 61-year-old.
Sánchez, and popstar Katy Perry headlined the crew of six noteworthy women who blasted off from West Texas Monday morning on a nail-biting 11-minute suborbital flight during which the crew could be heard screaming on the broadcast.
The New Shepard rocket took its famous passengers beyond the threshold of Earth’s atmosphere and into space for roughly three minutes before returning home safely.
After their safe return, Perry led the celebration, getting down on the ground and kissing the Texas dirt. Perry was seen kissing the ground right after exiting the New Shepard craft.
The commercial spacecraft built by Bezos’s Blue Origin company is carrying Sánchez, 55, Perry, 40, CBS co-host Gayle King, 70, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyne, 33, filmmaker Kieranne Flynn, 57, and NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, 38, on the brief zero gravity joyride.
Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos had a painful moment as he rushed to open the New Shepard capsule door Monday, tripping and falling face-first at the landing site
Bezos hugged his wife-to-be, Lauren Sánchez, after she returned on April 14 from her Blue Origin spaceflight
Katy Perry was one of the first to exit the New Shepard spacecraft and immediately kissed the dirt at the Texas landing site
Jeff Bezos posed with the 6 women who completed the first all-female space mission since 1963 shortly after their return to Earth Monday
A recovery team was quickly dispatched to the capsule to release Perry and company following their historic space flight.
Bezos was among those who first welcomed the crew upon their return to Earth.
Sánchez hugged Bezos as she emerged from the capsule and quickly ran to her family. She has three children.
Perry held up a daisy flower as soon as she stepped out of the capsule and later explained how she was overwhelmed by emotion during the trip.
‘It is the highest high,’ Perry said, ‘and it is surrender to the unknown, trust. … I couldn’t recommend this experience more.’
‘Daisies are common flowers, but they grow through any condition… They are resilient. They are powerful. They are strong,’ the popstar continued.
Perry sang ‘What a Wonderful World’ while in the space capsule.
‘It’s not about singing my songs. It’s about a collective energy in there. It’s about us. It’s about making space for future women and taking up space and belonging. And it’s about this wonderful world that we see right out there and appreciating it. This is all for the benefit of Earth,’ she added.
King was openly nervous about Monday’s mission, but found the space was ‘quiet and peaceful.’
While she can claim ‘astronaut’ status, King said: ‘I still can’t accept that word.’
A star-studded crowd watched nervously as the craft blasted into space, including Oprah who was in tears as she watched King, her best friend, go on the sub-orbital flight.
The Kardashian family were also in attendance, who joked about taking their reality show Keeping Up With the Kardashians to space.
Khloe Kardashian told the Blue Origin media team: ‘It’s incredible. It takes your breath away. And I feel like I have all this adrenaline, and I’m just standing here.’
Famous TV host Oprah Winfrey was seen crying as her longtime friend Gayle King took part in the 11-minute Blue Origin spaceflight
Members of the Blue Origin flight exited the New Shepard spacecraft Monday and began kissing the dirt following their safe return
CBS co-host Gayle King was seen kissing the ground at the West Texas landing site following the successful Blue Origin space mission
Just before the launch, Bezos was heard saying ‘When you get back, I want to hear how it has changed you. I love you all.’
Speaking on the Blue Origin livestream Monday morning, Sánchez said Bezos returned from his own spaceflight ‘more grounded.’
During liftoff, the rocket’s single BE-3PM engine fired and began blasting the crew into space at 9:30am ET.
Burning a mixture of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, the engine generates around 50,000 kg of force while producing nothing but water vapor.
Within minutes, the rocket hit speeds exceeding 2,000 miles per hour – over twice the speed of sound.
The forces on both the capsule and the crew will be intense as the rocket hits its point of maximum stress, known as Max-Q in aerospace engineering.
According to Blue Origin, Katy Perry and her fellow astronauts experienced three times the force of gravity as the booster accelerates.
Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos was seen watching the rocket carrying his fiancée into space Monday morning in West Texas
Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket launched on time at 9:30am ET Monday morning, launching 6 women into space on the 11-minute flight
After traveling through space for approximately 3 minutes, the New Shephard capsule landed safely a few miles from the launch site in Texas
The capsule landed just a few miles from the launch point safely, returning the group after a successful flight just after 9:40am ET.
It’s the first all-female space mission since Russia’s Valentina Tereshkova embarked on a solo spaceflight in 1963.
For Blue Origin, which has been been conducting commercial space launches since 2015, Monday’s flight was the 31st mission for the New Shepard vehicle.
Despite all the fanfare on Monday, the mission had its detractors, including Hollywood actress Olivia Munn who blasted it during an appearance on Today With Jenna And Friends earlier this month.
Both Munn and Jenna began the conversation as they pointed out the group’s recent cover for Elle and Olivia started to offer her thoughts before stopping herself.
She then questioned, ‘What are they doing? Like why? You know what I mean?’ – which got a few chuckles from the live audience.
‘I know that this is probably not the cool thing to say, but there are so many other things that are so important in the world right now.’
Although Sánchez has not confirmed it, there has been widespread speculation that she has breast implants. Plastic surgeons have also told DailyMail.com that there’s reason to believe she has received Botox, lip fillers, and possibly a facelift.
One doctor expressed some concern about Monday’s spaceflight, more because of the extreme stress during takeoff than the limited time in zero gravity.
Dr Stanton Gerson, who researches the impact of deep space on cells, told DailyMail.com: ‘The rocket launch I would have more concern about in the launch.
‘You go at about 6,000 mph and that can cause shear stress and may cause something to shift.’
Despite the concerns, it appeared that all six women were in good health after their flight and did not show any ill effects of their brief time in zero gravity.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .