Not Every Launch Lifts Us
This morning, the media exploded with headlines: “Historic all-female Blue Origin flight takes off!” It’s true—six women boarded New Shepard’s suborbital vehicle and successfully completed an 11-minute flight, crossing the Kármán line and experiencing a few minutes of weightlessness before safely returning to Earth.
Social media lit up with words like “empowering,” “groundbreaking,” and “trailblazing.” But if you strip away the celebratory tone, one truth remains:
This was a marketing event. Not a mission.
And while visibility and representation matter deeply—especially for women in male-dominated fields like aerospace—we need to be honest about what today really was, what it wasn’t, and what it could have been.
This Was Not a Mission—It Was a Moment
Spaceflight, historically, has been rooted in mission:
Advancing science.
Testing human limits.
Expanding what’s possible.
Every NASA mission. Every ESA sortie. Every ISS rotation. Each is a carefully crafted symphony of engineering, human factors, and purpose.
Today’s Blue Origin launch had no experiments onboard. No new tech. No training-intensive operations. No objectives beyond the spectacle of “look, women can do it too”—as if we didn’t already know that.
The six women onboard weren’t astronauts in the traditional sense. Not by NASA’s standards. Not by the international space community’s standards. They were passengers on a suborbital joyride that lasted less than the time it takes to drink your morning coffee.
And still, they were called “astronauts.”
That term used to mean something. It still should.
Meet the Crew: Accomplished, Yes. But Why This Flight?
Let’s not diminish these women’s accomplishments in their respective fields. They are, in many ways, role models:
Lauren Sánchez: Accomplished helicopter pilot, journalist, and Vice Chair of the Bezos Earth Fund. She’s been a visible supporter of climate initiatives and space philanthropy.
Katy Perry: Global pop star and UNICEF goodwill ambassador. Her influence reaches millions of girls around the world.
Gayle King: Esteemed journalist and morning show anchor, known for thoughtful interviews and commentary.
Amanda Nguyễn: Civil rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, with a background in bioastronautics. She’s done real work in space-adjacent fields.
Aisha Bowe: Former NASA aerospace engineer and founder of a tech company focused on diversity in STEM. If anyone on this flight earned her astronaut wings the hard way, it’s her.
Kerianne Flynn: A nonprofit executive and filmmaker.
They each brought something unique to the capsule—but none were there for science. They were there for visibility. And maybe that was the point.
But I can’t help wondering: What if this exact flight had also carried a meaningful payload? A real student experiment? A STEM challenge winner? A data collection effort?
What a missed opportunity.
Fashion Suits, Not Flight Suits
Adding insult to injury, the fashion press focused less on the flight and more on the custom-designed Monse flight suits worn by the crew—complete with flared zippers and cinched waists for a “chic” silhouette.
This was a spaceflight, not a red carpet.
Would anyone have dared critique or spotlight the tailoring on John Glenn’s gear? Did anyone zoom in on the aesthetic lines of Sally Ride’s mission patch?
Representation isn’t just about who we see in the suit—it’s about what they do in it.
Today, we sent a message to young women that looking good in microgravity is what earns headlines. Not research. Not resilience. Not rigor.
The Role Model Dilemma
Yes, girls watching today may feel excited. They’ll see women floating, laughing, wearing suits that actually fit. That’s not nothing.
But if we aren’t careful, we risk raising a generation that believes the path to space is paved with visibility—not viability.
I want girls to dream of spaceflight. But I also want them to:
Study orbital mechanics.
Lead robotics teams.
Code mission-critical software.
Become payload specialists.
Compete for flight assignments based on capability, not celebrity.
And when they get there—when they truly earn the title of “astronaut”—I want them to be taken seriously, not seen as props in someone else’s PR campaign.
Progress Is More Than Optics
Let’s be honest: this flight was designed to look like progress. And in some ways, it is.
But real progress means:
Opening the astronaut corps to more women—on merit.
Funding missions led by diverse crews.
Sending women scientists and engineers into orbit not just for show, but for science.
Inspiring all girls, not just the ones with a million Instagram followers.
Until we demand more, we’ll keep getting polished spectacles with little substance.
Final Descent
Not every launch lifts us.
Some just make noise, take photos, and return to Earth having changed nothing at all—except perhaps a few brand portfolios.
But imagine what could happen if we combined the visibility of today’s crew with the purpose of a real mission. Imagine a flight that inspired and advanced.
Now that would be worth the headline.
Until then, I’ll keep pushing for the kind of representation that doesn't just look like progress—but is progress.
About The Elevate Initiative
If today’s launch left you wondering what real progress looks like, that’s exactly why I created The Elevate Initiative. It’s a two-part approach to driving change in aviation and aerospace—one focused on women navigating their ascent, and one focused on the organizations that need to evolve. NAVIGATE™ Your Ascent equips experienced women with tools, coaching, and community to advance their careers without compromising who they are. ELEVATE™: Leadership and Engagement for Empowerment works directly with executives and teams to create cultures that don’t just talk about equity—they live it. Because progress isn’t about PR—it’s about power, purpose, and staying in the fight long enough to lead it.
👉 https://www.danakirchmar.com/
Feeling the weight of today’s headlines?
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👉 https://www.danakirchmar.com/the-dei-backlash-career-survival-guide