As pioneers of… something.
Pioneers of female space travel, I suppose.
See now I’m doing it too.
Those are the easy jokes to make.
For simply claiming to be an inspiration to all womankind.
We throw stones and jump down throats without bothering to do any background research at all.
We read one headline, or see one viral tweet, and everyone piles on from there.
And I’d be lying if I said that isn’t what it looks like to me as well.
But maybe there’s more to Blue Origin than that.
There has to be.
I mean listen to the passion in Gayle King’s voice.
What training was required?
What qualifications does Jeff Bezos' fiancee have that made her suitable for space travel?
They arrived 3 days early.
They showed up one day and stepped onto a rocket a few days later.
That’s almost half of a whole week.
Do you know how much money Katy Perry can make in 3 nights worth of concerts?
How many lives she could save?
How many young women she could put through college?
But why help hundreds when you might inspire millions?
As Dr. Robinson said, Blue Origin’s most recent all-female crew spent three days in training.
The training consisted ofmultiplethings:
1.
Going Over The Vehicle2.
What did they put their bodies through to assure their lungs didn’t collapse.
To assure their faces didn’t melt off.
To assure their bodies didn’t explode into a million pieces.
Or whatever happens to an untrained body when it goes to space.
What did they need to sacrifice to get to go on this mission?
To which Dr. Robinson replied:
“It’s very exciting.
This crew will experience about 2.5 G’s on ascent.
And I will tell you, it is noteworthy.
They will have some weightlessness.
Then they will descend.
The descent will ratchet up the G’s they will feel up to about 5 G’s.
It will be a tremendous force on their body.
They will feel pushback in their seats.
They will feel it in their lungs.
It’s very exciting.
It all sounds very exciting, but she objectively didn’t answer the question.
Unfortunately for this crew of pioneers, nobody seems to have debunked that idea.
I’m afraid at this point it’s just a fact.
I really think that’s all people would have needed.
Maybe a graphic depicting a strict diet the crew adhered to leading up to the launch.
Something about training their lungs to capacity, or getting their thetan levels up.
But again, I don’t want to be cynical.
I’m really trying to give this all-female crew some semblance of credit.
Even if I have to reach deep into my bag for it.
I will say, there are female celebrities in the world who wouldn’t do this.
Some people are scared of heights.
So credit to this crew for not being complete cowards.
And to be fair, part what Gayle King is saying is true.
What Blue Origin has been able to do is pretty incredible.
They made a rocket that allows the average person to travel to the edge of the Earth’s atmosphere.
But therein lies Gayle’s problem.
That’s where the disconnect is.
I can’t in good conscious say that Blue Origin passengers accomplished anything.
The Blue Origin company accomplished something.
Gayle King has accomplished a lot in her life to be afforded the opportunity to make the trip.
Which again, I’m sure provided inspiration to some people.
Much like Terry Crews' wacky commercials inspired me to buy Old Spice products.
Come to think of it, that may be the perfect comparison.
Katy Perry, Gayle King, and Lauren Sanchez did a commercial for space.
Space is a great cause, and their celebrity helps promote it.
But Terry Crews isn’t the hero who created the Bearglove scented anti-perspirant.
I’m honestly not even sure what Gayle King is trying to say in her video.
Of course he would.
Arguing whether or not it Gayle King went on a “ride” is all semantics anyways.
You get back what you put in.
That’s how life works.
And in this case, you didn’t have to put in that much.
I’m willing to concede you may have helped inspire some girls across the world to do… something.
But if all you inspired them to do was get a ride on Blue Origin someday…
