Social Media Goes Galactic Over Katy Perry, Gayle King's Blue Origin Flight

On Monday morning, the "E.T." singer, CBS Mornings host Gayle King, journalist -- and Jeff Bezos' fiancée -- Lauren Sánchez, and more launched into space in Bezos' Blue Origin New Shepard rocket, and returned home, completing their mission.

In addition to Perry, King, and Sánchez, the all-female crew of Blue Origin's NS-31 also included former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, bioastronautics research scientist Amanda Nguyen, and film producer Kerianne Flynn. It is the first all-female spaceflight since 1963.

The rocket blasted off on Monday morning from Blue Origin's Launch Site One in western Texas. The New Shepard traveled more than 60 miles above Earth, and the flight lasted 11 minutes, according to Blue Origin, per ABC News.

And, of course, the flight became a social media supernova, with people taking to X, formerly Twitter, to weigh in on the historic launch.

Perry -- who is arguably the biggest star on the flight -- had many fans talking, while she and Orlando Bloom's daughter warmed hearts with her adorable reaction. King and her bestie Oprah Winfrey went viral for their priceless reactions, as well, while others online simply asked the question: "Why are we doing this?"

Read on for the best social media memes and moments:

Perry became a trending topic online even days leading up to the launch -- for a handful of reasons, with the most popular appearing to be people noting that it was simply so random that the pop star went on a rocket to space. (Her 2010 hit "E.T." aside.)

"going to space on a random Monday is the most Katy Perry thing a Katy Perry could do," a fan wrote, while another added, "like what do you mean we just watched Katy Perry get blasted into space on a Monday afternoon??"

One user poked fun at Perry's latest album 143, which was not well received by critics.

"Still can't believe Katy Perry’s album was so bad they're sending her into space," the person wrote.

And for those hoping that Perry sang "E.T." in space, bad news. According to Variety, King said she sang, "What a Wonderful World" while up in the rocket.

The fan account @PopCulture2000s hilariously expressed their disappointment by sharing the iconic Tyra Banks ANTM "We were all rooting for you" meme.

The live feed of the launch revealed adorable footage of Perry and Bloom's 4-year-old daughter, Daisy, who rocked a metallic astronaut suit of her own, at the site as she watched her mom blast off into space.

Clips and photos circulated on X as fans seemingly couldn't get enough of the pop star and actor's adorable kid.

At one point, Daisy could even be heard yelling "Mama, mama!" Before Perry took off, she embraced her daughter, which was also shared online.

"daisy in her little astronaut costume watching her mom fly to space," a user wrote alongside photos of Daisy.

After Perry safely arrived back on Earth, she walked out of the capsule and held up a daisy, kissed it, before she then kissed the ground.

King became the subject of one of the funniest online viral moments about the launch as the journalist was seen looking incredibly nervous before the flight, with many jokingly suggesting that she appeared to have second thoughts.

When King and her all-female crew walked into the capsule, they all rang a bell -- and the CBS Mornings host , unlike her other crew members, did not appear amused, but rather stressed and anxious.

"Gayle is PANICKING," a fan wrote," while another said, "Gayle rethinking all her life choices..."

"Gayle wants to go home fr," another joked.

However, upon her return, King expressed her visible relief by kissing the ground when she walked out of the capsule.

Meanwhile, the journalist's longtime best friend, Oprah Winfrey, was there to witness King's flight -- and the TV legend's reaction to the take off was so priceless -- and relatable -- that she became a meme.

Oprah appeared emotional and teary-eyed, before she then covered her eyes when the rocket was in space -- almost as if the anxiety was too overwhelming that she couldn't even watch.

"obsessed with oprah giving us another solid gold reaction clip and she’s not even the one on the rocket," a user wrote.

Unsurprisingly, the rocket launch received major backlash and criticism online as well, with many blasting -- no pun intended -- the flight as tone-deaf, "vanity project," and "fever dream."

"When space turned into a vanity project for celebrities, we lost the plot," a user wrote.

"Katy Perry and Gayle King being launched into space while publicly saying they are bringing the 'ass back in astronauts' and 'makeup/glam is important for the mission' is some kind of black mirror parody and you can’t convince me otherwise," Meghan McCain said in a post.

Actress Olivia Wilde also expressed criticism over the mission. Taking to her Instagram Stories, Wilde reshared an X post that featured a funny reaction to the launch, and added, "Billion dollars bouth some good memes I guess."

Meanwhile, others shared their thoughts on Kris Jenner and Khloe Kardashian making an appearance at the launch.

"This Blue Origin launch feels like a weird fever dream. Kris Jenner and Khloe Kardashian are acting as commentators," a person wrote. "Oprah crying. Katy Perry and Gayle Kingare  up in space. But it was underwhelming and short. Am I high right now?"

"Space experts and experienced astronauts Kris Jenner and Khloe Kardashian speaking at Katy Perry's rocket launch," a fan joked, sharing a photo of the reality stars being interviewed.

Amy Schumer, meanwhile, joined in on trolling the Blue Origin launch, sharing a video of herself on her Instagram.

"Guys, last second they added me to space and I'm going to space. I'm bringing this thing,"
she said, showing a Black Panther toy to the camera. "It has no meaning to me, but it was in my bag and I was on the Subway, and I got the text and they were like, 'Do you want to go to space?' so I'm going to space. Thank you to everyone who got me here. I'll see you guys in space."

There were handfuls of general funny posts, memes, and more about the flight shared online. Check them out, below.