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To: Katy Perry
Katy Perry: Support NASA, NOAA, and climate programs impacted by cuts!
On April 15, a six-woman crew—including pop singer Katy Perry—took a 10-minute-and-21-second trip to space aboard billionaire Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin rocket. The trip was immediately met with backlash, with everyday people calling out the journey’s immense waste and pollution, not to mention its egregious cost.
While we don’t know the exact cost, it’s estimated that an average seat on the Blue Origin is between a whopping $1 and $1.5 million. Katy Perry is one of the wealthiest musicians in the world, with a net worth of $400 million, and the richest woman on the Blue Origin flight.
Add your name to urge Perry and the other wealthy celebrities on board to put their money where their values are by investing in the actual scientists who are committed to our planet and future.
Why is this important?
Katy Perry, who sang “What a Wonderful World” while suspended in space, said the quick trip was “all for the benefit of Earth,” kissing the ground when she landed. However, the less-than-11-minute space flight likely resulted in emissions of 75 tonnes of carbon per passenger.
Despite being backed by one of the richest men in the world, Blue Origin also receives money from the government through contracts and grants. Meaning our tax dollars are making Bezos richer and funding celebrity joyrides to space. Meanwhile, Donald Trump and Elon Musk are proposing major cuts to NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and other critical science programs and services.
NASA—run by real scientists, not celebrities—is facing nearly 50% cuts to its science programs, a move that some elected officials say would hurt national security, innovation, and our global reputation.
NOAA—which monitors space weather, tracks solar storms, and develops satellites—is facing 27% cuts, threatening to “take us back to the 1950s” according to the former director of NOAA’s Oceanic and Atmospheric Research division.
It’s embarrassing that a celebrity crew wasted resources and time for a joyride in space while the programs we rely on for scientific research and services are being drastically cut.
Tell Perry and the other celebrities on the space flight: Our planet and our future need real action NOW. If they care about the earth as much as they claim, they must use their platform and resources to support NASA, NOAA, and other climate groups in the wake of Trump’s devastating cuts.