Jeff Bezos face-planted into the dirt while enthusiastically greeting his fiancée and the crew after their Blue Origin space flight in the Texas desert.
The founder of Amazon and Blue Origin appeared to get a bit too excited as he celebrated the safe return of the all-female crew, including his fiancée, Lauren Sánchez, on Monday morning (April 14).
The historic flight featured Sánchez and five other notable figures—pop star Katy Perry, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, documentary producer Kerianne Flynn, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyễn, and journalist Gayle King—who journeyed into space for 11 minutes. The crew launched from Site One in West Texas at 10 AM EDT.
A livestream captured the moment they landed, showing the 61-year-old Bezos tripping and falling face-first while eagerly greeting the team. Following his fall, he was seen celebrating with Sánchez, with whom he became engaged in May 2023, as she emerged from the capsule.
Sánchez then embraced her family, who were waiting alongside Bezos at the landing site. “I can’t put it into words. We got to see the Moon!” she exclaimed, tears in her eyes. “The Earth looked so quiet… I don’t think you could describe it.” Her trip marked a milestone for Blue Origin as it was the company’s first space tourism mission, and Bezos had assured her it would be a transformative experience.
The crew ventured about 62 miles above Earth, just above the Karman Line considered the boundary of outer space. They enjoyed three minutes of weightlessness inside the capsule.
This mission also marked the first all-women crew to travel into space since Valentina Tereshkova’s solo orbit for the Soviet Union in 1963, allowing the team to view the vast expanse of space, the Moon, and Earth. Perry commented that she would “100 percent” record a song inspired by the experience.
Expressing her feelings, the “Hot N Cold” singer shared that she felt “super connected to love.” She took a daisy flower on the flight, a tribute to her daughter, and remarked, “Daisies are common flowers but they grow through any condition… They are resilient, they are strong, they are everywhere.”
Perry also mentioned a coincidence regarding the capsule’s name, stating that her mom refers to her as ‘Tortoise,’ which is the name of the capsule, and ‘Feather,’ which was also displayed on the vessel.
Jared Isaacman, a billionaire tech CEO and former NASA leader, congratulated the crew on Twitter, saying, “Congratulations to Blue Origin and the NS-31 crew. Opening this incredible frontier—from the few to the many—is the dream.” Although Blue Origin does not publicly disclose ticket prices for spaceflights, reports indicate that seats on its inaugural flight fetched $28 million in an auction.
Credit: UniLad
