Katy Perry roars into space on all-women flight

WASHINGTON: Pop star Katy Perry completed a brief foray into space on Monday, roaring to the edge of the cosmos with an all-women crew on one of billionaire Jeff Bezos´s rockets.

The “Firework” and “California Gurls” singer was lofted more than 100-kms above the Earth´s surface in a vessel from Blue Origin, the space company owned by the Amazon founder. Five other women -- including Bezos´s fiancee Lauren Sanchez -- were on the flight, which took off from western Texas shortly after 8:30 am (1330 GMT) before safely landing again some 10 minutes later.

The flight brought the passengers beyond the Karman line -- the internationally recognised boundary of space. One of the other passengers, TV presenter Gayle King, said Perry sang “What a wonderful world” in space. “It´s a 10 out of 10. That´s my review. Definitely go for it,” the singer said after she was safely back on Earth.

Their fully automated craft rose vertically before the crew capsule detached mid-flight, later falling back to the ground slowed by parachutes and a retro rocket. The jubilant women then emerged, with Perry kissing the ground after exiting the capsule.

“I think this experience has shown me you never know how much love is inside of you, like how much love you have to give and how loved you are until the day you launch,” she said. Monday´s mission was the first all-woman space crew since Valentina Tereshkova´s historic solo flight in 1963.