Famed Australian scientist Dr Karl Kruszelnicki has weighed in on the controversy surrounding Jeff Bezo’s all-female Blue Origin space flight.
Passengers on the trip, including pop star Katy Perry, have faced an online backlash over the 11-minute flight branding it a ‘joyride for the super-rich’ and an unproductive, wasteful publicity stunt.
Katy Perry has been singled out by fans who dubbed her post-flight comments in the media ‘tone deaf’.
However, Karl refrained from joining in the chorus of disapproval over the space journey on Sunday’s episode of The Project.
Asked whether he thought it was a ‘good idea’ to send celebrities into space Dr Karl gushed: ‘Well, firstly, if you asked me, “would you go into space?” I would say “yes” in a heart beat.’
Karl then clarified: ‘Space being defined as 80 to 100 kilometres up.’
Famed Australian scientist Dr Karl Kruszelnicki has weighed in on the controversy surrounding Jeff Bezo’s all-female Blue Origin space flight. Dr Karl refrained from joining in the chorus of disapproval over the space journey on Sunday’s episode of The Project (pictured)
Passengers on the trip, including pop star Katy Perry , have faced an online backlash over the 11-minute flight branding it a ‘joyride for the super-rich’ and an unproductive, wasteful publicity stunt. Pictured: Katy Perry on the flight
He then characterised the criticism from the public over the latest Blue Origin flight as unfair saying that the women involved, were being ‘picked on’ for their comments following their trip because they are female.
Dr Karl alluded to previous ‘celebrity space trips’ mounted by Jeff Bezo’s that featured men including actor William Shatner and US journalist Michael Strahan.
‘For some reason they [the public] seem to pick on people who are female, they haven’t picked on celebrity males before,’ he said.
‘Why did everyone pile on these female type people,’ he continued.
‘I think there’s a whole lot of things going on [here] and in retrospect the way out of it would have been [for the Blue Origin passengers to say] “thank you the flight, its amazing, lets give more money to NASA.”‘
‘But at the time that would have been the only way out, but in the heat of the moment you as the innocent celebrity person would [say to the media] “I’ve got no idea.”‘
It comes as Perry, 40, is on the receiving end of a backlash after taking the 11-minute trip into space on Jeff Bezos’ spacecraft.
She was joined in the voyage by Jeff’s fiancée, former journalist Lauren Sánchez, media personality Gayle King, film producer Kerianne Flynn, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, and civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen.
The group has been criticised, with people taking to the internet to deem the launch an unproductive, wasteful publicity stunt that was a ‘joyride for the super-rich.’
Dr Karl characterised the criticism from the public over the latest Blue Origin flight as unfair saying that the women involved, were being ‘picked on’ as they are female. Pictured: Katy (second from left) and the other passengers Lauren Sanchez (far left), Aisha Bowe, Kerianne Flynn, Gayle King, and Amanda Nguyen
Perry promoted her music while on the flight as well as holding up a daisy
It was also called ‘tone deaf’ and ’embarrassing.’
Following the launch on April 14 US time, Perry waxed poetic about feeling ‘super connected to love,’ thanked a reporter who called her an astronaut, and declared the all-female journey ‘has always been about love and belonging.’
‘It’s not about singing my songs. It’s about a collective energy in there. It’s about us. It’s about making space for future women and taking up space and belonging,’ she said in a post-flight interview.
‘And it’s about this wonderful world that we see right out there and appreciating it. This is all for the benefit of Earth.’
Perhaps the most ridiculed moment from Monday’s event was when the pop star emerged from the Blue Origin capsule.
She immediately stopped and held a daisy up to the sky before descending from the capsule, dropping to her knees and kissing the ground.
Fast food chain Wendy’s joined the conversation, posting photos via social media app X of Perry’s gesture with the reference, ‘I kissed the ground and I liked it,’ in reference to her 2008 song I Kissed a Girl.
Wendy’s also jokingly wrote online about Katy after she returned to Earth from space: ‘Can we send her back?’
Katy Perry’s, 40, Blue Origin space mission was mocked by fast food chain Wendy’s and her pop rival Kesha on Monday (Pictured)
Following the backlash, it seems now the Roar singer is experiencing second thoughts about her Blue Origin flight, as an inside source calls the criticism unexpected for the former American Idol judge and ‘disheartening’ for the rest of the all-female crew.
‘Katy doesn’t regret going to space. It was life changing. What she does regret is making a public spectacle out of it,’ the insider exclusively revealed to DailyMail.com.
It wasn’t just social media users who criticized the all-female Blue Origin space.
A slew of fellow celebrities – including Emily Ratajkowski, Olivia Wilde, Olivia Munn, and Amy Schumer – have slammed the spectacle as a frivolous publicity campaign for Bezos’ space company.
