Not that long ago, the only people allowed to go to space required years of training, wore flight suits and were considered heroes in their home countries: Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin, Valentina Tereshkova, the list goes on. Now, it seems like all you need is a fat wallet loaded with cash, a celebrity name and an Instagram account on which to vlog the adventure.
In the last few years, there has been a surge in space tourism, a term that refers to commercial space travel that seeks to give tourists the ability to experience space for recreational, leisure or business purposes, as stated by Science direct.
Because of this, the cosmos is starting to look less like the mysterious, final frontier that scientists had been working to discover for years, and more like a luxurious destination for billionaires, influencers and even pop stars.
On April 14, Katy Perry and a crew of five women travelled to space, or so they said. In reality, the NS-31 spaceship, property of Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ company, only reached the Kármán line — also known as the internationally recognized boundary of space, and came right back down. The total flight lasted for 11 minutes. Even though the women were able to experience stunning views of the Earth from above and the extraordinary phenomenon of weightlessness, a great amount of controversy sparked around the topic.
According to USA Today, American actress Olivia Munn was not happy with the mission and its values.
“What are they going to do up there that has made it better for us down here?” Munn said. “It’s so much money to go to space. There’s a lot of people who can’t even afford eggs… I think it’s a bit gluttonous.”
The most criticized part of the mission was Perry’s attitude during the trip. While floating in zero-gravity, she promoted her new world tour, which many people regarded as using the mission as a publicity stunt.
The singer also held a daisy, which represented her daughter’s name, and a butterfly, representing her newest album, while looking at a camera. Many people were angered by this as she wasn’t looking outside of the window into space. Upon landing, Perry leaned and kissed the ground.
Right after disembarking, Perry claimed that she felt “super connected to life” and “so connected to love.” In addition, she claimed that she would recommend the experience to anyone. However, many people felt that she was out of touch with reality, as not everyone can afford spending millions on such a short trip to space. Perry’s interviews provoked hundreds of meme videos on the social media platform, TikTok.
But behind the Instagrammable moments, space is an unforgiving environment, similar to the ocean, which is largely unknown and dangerous. While celebrities are able to float weightless for a few minutes and return to Earth safe and sound, there are catastrophic risks to pushing the boundaries of human exploration.
In 2023, the Titan, a deep-sea submarine property of the company OceanGate, imploded during a dive to view the wreck of the Titanic. The accident killed all five people on board. This trip was supposed to be an elite experience for a few wealthy individuals, however it ended in tragedy and a reminder that no amount of money can guarantee your safety in these types of scenarios.
In both cases, what is sold as a luxury adventure is really more like playing a dangerous game with nature. Whether you are floating above our planet in a Chanel suit or sinking into the dark depths of the ocean in a wooden box, one thing is for sure: neither of those are places meant to be casually visited, they aren’t just trips you add to your bucket list.
While billionaires spend millions of dollars in life or death situations filled with adrenaline, the rest of us are left on the ground, wondering and watching what is becoming of our world and of course, looking at the moon and the stars. That one has a funny shape…
Wait, what is Katy Perry doing up there again?
