Better that Bezos’ fiancee Lauren Sanchez and pop star Katy Perry went up in flame-resistant stretch neoprene ‘Disco inferno’ blue space suits than random middle-classers, no? That would have elicited cries from the street of ‘Don’t use us as guinea pigs!’
Remember when posh Victorians tried out the new-fangled steam locomotive – despite accidents occurring during these beta tests with early 19th c. HNIs in the carriages. If anything, sending celebrities to space is the most logical step in making science exploration accessible and exciting for the masses.
And an all-female crew is a powerful statement about representation and breaking barriers in a field historically dominated by men. Plus, who wouldn’t want to see a zero-gravity selfie from Taylor Swift, or a live-streamed space concert by Beyonce?
It’s by riding on the shoulders (rocket boosters?) of celebrities, funded by wealthy rocketwalas, that one day, the rest of humanity will discover affordable space travel. Remember who the original cellphone users were.
