Don’t be talkin’ smack about the ladies!
Nope. I just think this is a stunt … like so many other similar ones and little more. THIS one, however, was by some wealthy women with nothing better to spend their money on. These people aren’t astronauts … they were passengers. Besides … I’m retired military. I don’t take prisoners. I let the big man take care of that for me.
Six women. One rocket. They didn’t fix satellites or plant flags but they didn’t need to. This was about showing who else belongs in space. Call ’em Space Voyagers.
They flew, they floated, they landed, making space look good and history a little brighter. Congratulations!!
I am thankful that they came back in one piece. Had they not, we’d be seeing funeral coverage, “reached out to touch the Hand of God” stuff, and Jeff Bezos’ new girlfriend!
Nothing new here - American females beat American males into space on another 100% automated “flight”, way back in 1959. See NASA Bioflight #2. One of the passengers remained a celebrity way longer than any of these women (I’ve never heard of) will. We met her in Huntsville in the late 70s, 20 years after her fateful flight into space.
When no less than the New York Times referred to this as “One Giant Stunt for Womankind”, if got harder to pretend that this was a victory for gender equality or, for that matter, anything other than the marketing department of Blue Origin.
Lauren Sanchez always sends me into outer space.
Let’s not forget the purpose of Blue Origin, it’s for space tourism and this was the promotion of it, not to be compared with trained astronauts.
Actually, I think Bezos (whom I loathe) did something smart here in terms of marketing. Everyone knows that most of the pax/occupants are a lot like normal people (except they are also celebrities). This could make it seem more accessible to “normal” very wealthy people, many of whom idolize one or more of the participants. Diabolically brilliant.
You’re right, Ron … they’re astroNOTS 
It was more or less the same as an all-woman roller coaster. Not that it wasn’t fun, I would ride on it too for free, but I wouldn’t claim to be an astronaut, it would be like claiming to be a supersonic pilot for sitting in seat 12B of a Concorde.