We’ll give real life this—The Morning Show wishes it came up with something as juicy as “all-female space crew led by the billionaire’s fiancée.” Jeff Bezos’ intended Lauren Sanchez is spearheading this Blue Origin mission, which includes King, NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, research scientist Amanda Nguyen, and film producer Kerianne Flynn, and pop star Katy Perry (per CBS News). Why didn’t The Morning Show think to put a pop star on its space flight? In hindsight, that’s an obvious missed opportunity.
“I don’t know how to explain being terrified and excited at the same time. It’s like how I felt about to deliver a baby,” King said during the announcement on CBS Mornings. “I thought I wanted to open myself up to new adventures and step out of my comfort zone.”
The latest Blue Origin mission—the first all-female flight, and the 11th trip to space overall—is set for this spring, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Blue Origin’s New Shepherd program takes passengers above the Kármán line, widely accepted as the “edge of space,” 62 miles above the earth’s surface. Previous passengers on the space tourism express include Bezos, Strahan, and William Shatner, who became the oldest person to reach space. (Pete Davidson was supposed to go on one of the trips, but it didn’t work out.) “[Sanchez] is honored to lead a team of explorers on a mission that will challenge their perspectives of Earth, empower them to share their own stories, and create lasting impact that will inspire generations to come,” Blue Origin said in a statement (via THR).
On The Morning Show, the space flight was part of a larger plot about billionaire Paul Marks (Jon Hamm) buying UBA; over the course of the third season, it became clear that it’s bad business and potentially dangerous for a rich tech guy to own a news organization. Bezos already has a news org and a whole entertainment studio, so King will just have to chart her own original plotline here. “This was never my dream. It was never my dream. And somebody said, maybe you need to have new dreams, Gayle,” she said on CBS Mornings. “I feel well prepared. I believe in Blue Origin, what they’re doing. I am really excited and actually looking forward to it.”
