The criticism of Jeff Bezos' all-female Space Origin flight started as a trickle and has become a deluge (see here, here, here, here, and too many more places to list), but Gayle King isn't having it. In response to the many people pointing out that a billionaire sending a bunch of other rich people into space didn't seem as inspirational as it was made out to be, King, who was on the flight, told Extra that the critics need to do their "due diligence," per the Hollywood Reporter. "I was one of those people, before I went on this flight and became educated at space," she said, noting that she once wondered, "Why are we spending so much money on space when there's so much to do here on Earth?" But Blue Origin, she says, is working on important projects such as "a way to harness the waste here and figure out a way to put it in space to make planet Earth a better place."
"My question is, 'Have y'all been to space?' Go to Blue Origin and see what they do and then come back and say, 'This is a terrible thing,'" she continued, addressing the "haters." She acknowledged the 11-minute spaceflight was a bit pricey, but insisted, "If you get enough people who are interested, it doesn't have to be that expensive." As for the people referring to the experience as a "ride," she called the term "disrespectful," complaining, "You never see a man, a male astronaut, who's going up in space and they said, 'Oh we took a ride.'" Bezos fiancee Lauren Sanchez also hit back at critics, telling People, "I would love to have them come to Blue Origin and see the thousands of employees that don't just work here but they put their heart and soul into this vehicle. They love their work and they love the mission and it's a big deal for them." (More Blue Origin stories.)
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