An all-female spaceflight by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin successfully launched Monday morning, drawing attention not only for its crew of high-profile women but also for an unexpected exchange on live television over language used to describe the mission.
The launch took place at 9:30 a.m. ET from West Texas, sending six women aboard the New Shepard rocket into space for a brief 11-minute suborbital flight.
The passengers included singer Katy Perry, television anchor Gayle King, Lauren Sánchez—fiancée of Jeff Bezos—civil rights advocate Amanda Nguyen, filmmaker Kireanne Flynn, and NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe.Former NASA astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison, who in 1992 became the first black woman to travel to space aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, was featured in CBS News’ coverage of the launch.
During a discussion on the significance of the flight, CBS anchor Vladimir Duthiers referred to the mission as benefiting “mankind.”
Jemison immediately corrected him on-air.
“First of all it benefits humankind and I’m going to keep correcting the mankind and the manmade and the manned missions,” Jemison said in response.
Duthiers offered a hasty apology.
Jemison continued, saying, “This is exactly what this mission is about—it’s expanding the perception of who does space.”
The mission was the eleventh crewed spaceflight for Blue Origin, and the first all-women crewed launch since the solo flight of Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova in 1963.During liftoff, the rocket’s BE-3PM engine ignited, burning a combination of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to generate approximately 50,000 kilograms of force.
The launch quickly accelerated past 2,000 miles per hour—over twice the speed of sound—exposing the capsule and its passengers to three times the force of gravity.
Once in space, the women were able to float in zero gravity, sharing laughs and vocal excitement while viewing Earth from above.
The capsule reached its peak before beginning a descent back to Earth, ending in a soft landing.