UNEXPLAINED MISSION: Katy Perry, Gayle King, and Four Others Return from MYSTERIOUS Outer Space Trip—Why Did Blue Origin Secretly Launch These Famous Women? Insiders Say Their TRUE Purpose Remains Hidden, Sparking Wild Speculation and Confusion! Is This Just Celebrity Tourism or Part of a Larger Plan No One Saw Coming?

The kookiness of this whole ordeal makes perfect sense for Katy Perry who, throughout her career, has made being corny and unserious her whole brand.

Katy Perry just went to space, and the whole thing feels kinda … whatever.

The “E.T.” singer took a short break from this “Woman’s World” April 14 to be among the stars. She was accompanied by former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, prominent civil rights activist and bioastronautics research scientist Amanda Nguyen, journalist and television personality Gayle King, film producer Kerianne Flynn and Emmy Award-winning journalist Lauren Sánchez, who so happens to be the fiancée of the man behind it all, Jeff Bezos.

The Amazon founder’s space technology company, Blue Origin, took the ladies on a brief morning trip above Earth.

Opinion: Katy Perry’s soulless ‘143’ album shows why nostalgia isn’t enoughIn an Elle magazine interview boasting the impact of the trip – there hasn’t been an all-women space flight since Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova’s 1963 solo mission – Perry exclaimed that “space is going to finally be glam.” Whatever that means!

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.But why in the world should we care about Perry and friends’ space odyssey?

Who is the billionaire space race really for? Can’t be us.

Let’s just call it what it is: This is all spectacle. The media fanfare, the celebrities selected – it’s all meant to act as an intergalactic billboard for Blue Origin.

Space exploration is exciting on its own as it fills our curiosity of the unknown, but this ongoing billionaire space race is annoying at best and nefarious at worst. It seems like our tech overlords’ obsession with space is motivated less by a love of technology and more by the potential of escaping a planet they’ve mined for all it’s worth.

Whether it’s space colonies orbiting the Earth, “Mickey 17”-style, or settlements on foreign planets, the idea of humans making a second home in space seems less far-fetched as Earth becomes increasingly inhospitable.

None of this will happen in our lifetime, especially if you don’t have $150,000 lying around for the deposit.

From Neil Armstrong to Katy Perry, historians of the future will look back on space escapades like Blue Origin as stepping stones to the first human colonies on Mars or the moon.

Opinion: How far will technology go? ‘Severance’ is our answer – and a warning.But as I sat in contemplation, staring up at the stars Perry just saw up close, I kept coming back to my original question: Why did Perry specifically choose to do this? In her Elle interview, she expressed that she was flying for her daughter, Daisy, “to inspire her to never have limits on her dreams and show her that any type of person can reach their dreams.”

As lovely as that sounds, her reasoning comes off a bit tactless. Is it really best to sow inspiration through a private company owned by one of President Donald Trump’s billionaire yes-men?

Why did Katy Perry go to space?

In a now-memed interview with The Associated Press, Perry expressed excitement about “the engineering of it all” and learning “more about STEM,” some pretty ChatGPT-like answers anyone could spit out when asked about space travel on the spot.

She even shared her lifelong love of astrophysics. Does this explain the “E.T.” music video?

Watching that AP interview on TikTok and reading the comments made it all make sense. Which other pop star would do something so needlessly nonsensical?

Perhaps Lady Gaga? She expressed a desire to perform in space a decade ago, even going so far as to announce that she would be the first recording artist to sing in space in 2015 – something that never actually happened. The Lady Gaga of this decade seems much more grounded.

The fact that Perry herself couldn’t even offer up a coherent answer makes even more sense out of this expedition. Maybe there’s an under-the-table check involved? Maybe she’s just bored and needs some publicity to help with low ticket sales for her upcoming tour?

Regardless, the kookiness of this whole ordeal makes perfect sense for Perry, who, throughout her career, has made being corny and unserious her whole brand.

To her loudest critics, her playing space buddies with evil billionaire Jeff Bezos is just another pledge in her allegiance to loserdom. Her most valiant stans may spin it as campy and iconic. As for me and my house, we see it as Katy Perry just being Katy Perry.