Blue Origin Sends 6 Female Celebrities to Space for 11 Minutes. American Women on Earth Fight for Voting Rights and Bodily Autonomy.
History shows us that Americans in space was always fraught
You’ve seen it by now. The thirsty Blue Origin flight that launched six celebrities into space on Monday. All six people happened to be women. But if you tell me this is a milestone for feminism, I’m going to disagree.
Writer Marcie Bianco highlighted the glaring imbalance here.
“I’m all for women’s progress and liberation. But calling this a win for women feels outright delusional.”
She’s right.
She also noted how women in America are dying and being arrested because they’re having miscarriages or abortions. So, I guess distracting us by sending celebrity women to space is the answer.
I’m not distracted.
“Space tourism is not feminism. It is consumer capitalism at its most inaccessible.” - Bianco
January 28, 1986
I was in fourth grade. My teacher, Mrs. Watts, was one of my favorite teachers. She was the kind of educator who hosted a field trip to her house for local hikes. We walked around the area; we got to know her. We had pet turtles in the classroom named after Orville and Wilbur Wright.
I was happy going to her class every day. I had a troubled elementary school experience, but Mrs. Watts’ classroom felt like home.
That bright January day, we were led into a classroom down the hall where we typically learned about science. The tables were high and metal. It had large windows.
This day was special. We were gathered together to watch the launch of the Challenger Space Shuttle.
A TV was rolled in on a large, clunky stand so that we could all watch as history unfolded in front of us. This wasn’t just any shuttle launch — there was a teacher aboard.
73 seconds after liftoff, the shuttle exploded.
All us fourth graders looked around at each other, stunned. Tragedy was not something we could fully understand. My teacher rushed out of the room in tears. She had applied to be on that shuttle. She wanted to be the teacher aboard that special flight.
I was shocked and horrified.
I felt an ache for Mrs. Watts. I couldn’t comprehend the tragedy. How could these seven remarkable people be gone in one second? My nine-year-old brain could not contend with such loss. It couldn’t be. I was in denial. It could not be.
And then it was.
The Pang of Patriotism
Growing up in America, I was so proud of our space programs. NASA was a shining beacon. A national treasure. Brilliant scientists coming together to explore space — remarkable. Talented pilots with rigorous training only to maybe get the opportunity to get on board the next launch. It was inspiring. It made me feel downright patriotic.
Patriotism, as an adult, doesn’t feel as straightforward as it did when I was a child.
Boy billionaires involved in space tourism have now made the astounding Milky Way feel like a sad tourist attraction. They parade around in flight suits and talk to us about how they are fulfilling their childhood dreams.
Oh, pardon me, what did you say about your dream when you were a little boy?
I’m sorry, I was stuck in gridlock heading to collect my very blue-collar paycheck.
Back when Bezos was first launching himself into space, I heard the news on the radio during my drive to work. NPR was covering his launch into space. Or was it Richard Branson? Eh, whatever.
I clicked off the radio. Ugh, who cares? I thought. You have a billion dollars and that’s what you spend it on? A personal ride into space. Cool. Fascism is gripping America, the earth is on fire, kids here are going hungry, women are losing rights, but yeah, a ride into space sounds like a good use of money.
They’ve managed to reproduce those awful feelings this week with the women on the Blue Origin rocket. Big-time yuck.
People can do whatever they want with their money, but this is all too weird.
I don’t know how you can, in good faith, go off and be a space tourist.
The one planet that we are currently destroying needs attention. Let’s look at our current planet before we go scouting a new one or taking joyrides to see her destruction from above.
Whitey on the Moon
Space programs in America were always fraught.
NASA wasn’t everyone’s slice of apple pie. But we sure like to remember it that way. Our history books did a good job of erasing any controversy. NASA actually experienced a backlash in the ‘60s. Most of that strife has been erased.
As a white American kid, I was brought up to believe that the moon landing was simply an achievement of hard work and dedication by brave men. I imagined the entire country glued to its TV sets, eating a TV dinner, with a dog lying at its feet.
Women in bouffant hairdos and men in polyester polo shirts tucked into slim khakis smoked cigarettes while their kids played on the green grass with plastic toys.
We were never taught the flip side of that patriotic coin.
That sending a man to the moon was, in fact, protested.
That less than half of the American people were okay with the government spending that much money on The Apollo Mission at the time. The country was divided and civil rights marches had been on the news for years before we made it to the moon.
“When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon, a process began that has all but eradicated any reference to the substantial opposition by scientists, scholars, and regular old people to spending money on sending humans to the moon.” — Alexis C. Madrigal, Moondoggle in The Atlantic.
The poet Gil Scott-Heron spoke openly about the raw struggles of everyday life in stark contrast to space exploration.
If you’ve ever heard him recite “Whitey on the Moon”, you know what I mean.
This is a small part of it:
A rat done bit my sister Nell.
(with Whitey on the moon)
Her face and arms began to swell.
(and Whitey’s on the moon)
I can’t pay no doctor bill.
(but Whitey’s on the moon)
Ten years from now I’ll be payin’ still.
(while Whitey’s on the moon)
The man jus’ upped my rent las’ night.
(’cause Whitey’s on the moon)
It’s brilliant.
It’s also a reality that wealthy white Americans don’t want to face: Their privilege may cause others to suffer.
Billionaires in space are just a blinding example.
Everyone has their dream. Poets, billionaires, and teachers alike.
Every pilot that ever tested, orbited the earth, or died for the advancement of science is a hero; do not get me wrong. It just pains me when regular-ass rich guys (or celebrity women) stroll around in flight suits like they’re on the set of The Right Stuff.
But that has been pissing people off for a long time.
As it turns out, space exploration was never a popular topic. It was never the slam dunk, tall glass of lemonade I thought it was.
It may never be the exciting frontier that the whole country can get behind. Because history shows us that space exploration was debated and fraught. It looked like it was a complete waste of money to a lot of people in the ‘60s.
Today, people are upset about space tourism. It’s similar.
I’m sure people driving to work in the ’60s snapped the radio off on their drive to work too as updates of the space race came over the airwaves. When you’re working overtime to collect a paycheck and feed your family, white men going to the moon probably sounded just as crazy as billionaires (and famous women) in space.
Everyone has their dream. Poets, billionaires, and teachers alike.
My memory of the past is all Kodachrome colors and quiet observation. But a teacher in space—and a woman at that—felt like progress. Monday’s launch with six women celebrities dressed in matching, tight, violet space suits was different.
It felt like: Well, rich people are gonna do rich people things in space no matter who is dying back at home. Ya know?
I hope that Mrs. Watts still reveres space exploration as a triumph. I hope that it still holds a special place in her heart, even with all this Blue Origin drama. Her classroom, the turtles, and seeing that 1986 shuttle launch through her eyes will always hold a special place in mine.
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Kit Campoy is an accomplished retail expert and author. She leverages her two decades of leadership experience to inform and inspire. Kit is now booking panel speaking sessions for Q3 of 2025. Book a call on her website today!
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Ough!!! That's the perfect discussion of this gut punch of a moment!! You nailed all of the many nuances of this whole subject and its history.
WOW Kit, just WOW. I'm so feeling this with you. thanks for this one. I was working in my dad's retail store in South Boston on that fateful day. We had a tiny box TV up on the shelf. I think we said it as a (fake: ) survellience camera. I remember exactly where I was standing and how my body felt in the moment...neverforget.