Olivia Munn Questions Purpose And Cost Of Blue Origin's 'Gluttonous' All-Female Space Mission

Labelling Blue Origin's upcoming all-female space mission as "gluttonous", actress Olivia Munn slammed it on a recent appearance on Today With Jenna and Friends.

What Happened: On the April 3 episode of the morning show, Munn questioned the excitement generated by the 11-minute suborbital flight, which will carry Lauren Sánchez, Gayle King, Katy Perry, Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyen, and Kerianne Flynn to space. "What are they doing?" Munn asked, raising doubts about the value of such a mission. "There are so many other things that are so important in the world right now."

See Also: Jeff Bezos Brings Amazon’s Hard-Charging Culture, 50-Hour Workweek To Blue Origin: CEO Says Growth Led To ‘More Bureaucracy…Less Focus’

After being told that the mission would last for 11 minutes in total, Munn drew comparisons with a high-budget amusement park ride. "It's like their own version of Space Mountain," she said, interrogating both the public spectacle and the glamorization of the short-lived journey.

Why It Matters: While the flight is being touted as a "milestone" for gender representation in space travel, Munn wasn't persuaded. "If you wanna go to space, why do you need to tell us about it?" she asked. "Just go, have a good time, come back down." She also expressed concerns about the ecological impact and the immense financial requirements. "It's so much money to go to space, and there's a lot of people who can't even afford eggs," she observed.

Munn also seemed shocked by reports that the crew planned to be "in full glam" for the flight, retorting, "They said this out loud?" She added, "What's the point? Is it historic that you guys are going on a ride? I think it's a bit gluttonous."

The mission will be Blue Origin's 11th human flight and 31st overall. Its all-female lineup and high-profile participants have been focal points in the promotions rolled out by Blue Origin.

In 2023, data from UNOOSA demonstrated that women comprised just 11% of the world's astronauts, only 6.6% of spacewalks had been performed by women, and only 20% of the broader space workforce was made up of women.

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