Gayle King describes space launch: "Can't even believe what I saw"

All-women unit exit Blue Origin capsule

Gayle King, all-women unit exit Blue Origin capsule aft harmless instrumentality to Earth 04:51

"CBS Mornings" co-host Gayle King returned safely to Earth connected Monday greeting aft a astir 10-minute travel to the borderline of abstraction with an all-women unit aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard spacecraft.

"I americium truthful arrogant of maine close now," King said soon aft landing. "This was not a ride. What happened to us, this was a bona fide freakin' flight."

The spacecraft reached an altitude of 346,802 feet, with the ngo lasting 10 minutes and 21 seconds from motorboat to landing. The unit experienced weightlessness and viewed Earth from a unsocial perspective.

During the flight, King's excitement was captured connected audio arsenic she urged her chap crew members to look astatine the celestial view.

"The moon. You guys," she could beryllium heard saying. "Look astatine the moon."

King describes "peaceful" microgravity 

King described the acquisition of being successful abstraction arsenic "oddly quiet" and "peaceful," adding that looking down astatine Earth was profound.

"You look down astatine the satellite and you deliberation that's wherever we came from? To maine it's specified a reminder astir however we request to bash better, beryllium better," she said.

Upon landing successful West Texas, King was seen kissing the crushed successful solemnisation and relief.

King, who precocious turned 70, admitted she had been terrified of flying but recovered courageousness done the mission's extended preparation.

"Our teacher said I americium her champion occurrence story. She's ne'er had idiosyncratic spell done the people who is terrified of flying," King said.

King said she thought astir Eleanor Roosevelt's celebrated punctuation astir courageousness during the flight.

"Courage is doing thing that scares you but you bash it anyway," King said. "I stepped retired of my comfortableness portion successful a mode I ne'er thought was imaginable for me. I truly bash consciousness I tin instrumentality connected anything. Anything. Anything."

Forming a "true sisterhood" with crew

The crew, including vocalist Katy Perry, movie shaper Kerianne Flynn, erstwhile NASA rocket idiosyncratic Aisha Bowe, and civilian rights activistic Amanda Nguyen, was assembled by writer and philanthropist Lauren Sánchez, fiancée of Blue Origin laminitis Jeff Bezos. 

Sánchez formed what King described arsenic a "true sisterhood" during their journey.

"We are everlastingly bonded due to the fact that you can't spell done what we went done to look retired for each other, to assistance each different and not beryllium changed by that," she said.

When asked if she regretted the experience, King responded definitively: "I americium gladsome I did it. I americium precise glad. I person nary regrets astir doing it."

As for what's adjacent for King, she's looking to conquer different fear.

"I whitethorn present get my ears pierced, I person ever been afraid," said King. 

Katy Perry sings during spaceflight

In a touching infinitesimal during the flight, King revealed popular superstar Perry sang "What a Wonderful World" aft the unit returned to their seats pursuing the zero-gravity information of the journey.

"The champion portion was erstwhile we got backmost successful our seats aft zero Gs, Katy sang 'What a Wonderful World,'" King said.

She explained that the unit had been asking Perry to sing passim the trip, suggesting hits similar "Roar" oregon "Firework," but Perry declined.

"It's not astir me. I wanted to speech astir the world," Perry told her unit mates.

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• Space