A apparently insignificant but peculiar incident during the capsule’s return has caused what should have been a historic moment for space tourism and celebrity involvement in research to take an unexpected turn. This is not because of any technical issue.
The focus shifted from the mission’s accomplishments to a video clip showing the New Shepard capsule’s hatch after Blue Origin’s all-female crew, which included pop sensation Katy Perry, successfully landed. Now, the video has become the focus of numerous online conspiracy theories.
Using a specialized tool, Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos ceremoniously opened the capsule door after safely landing in the Texas desert and arrived to greet the returning crew. Before film of the door opening from the inside started making the rounds on social media, it was a picture-perfect moment of victory.
Presumably so Bezos could arrange the formal opening, the door seemed to be momentarily unlatched from within the capsule before being swiftly closed again.
Many people thought it was just a media choreography error. Others on the internet, however, saw it as “proof” that the entire incident had been manufactured.
This, in my opinion, is the final nail in the coffin. FAKE! was written by one person on X (previously Twitter). Another said, “They opened the door from inside and then waited for Bezos to pretend to use a tool to unlock it.”
According to critics, pressurized spacecraft usually have hatches that open outward, are tightly sealed, and need outside assistance. Skeptics who were not familiar with the New Shepard system were concerned by the capsule’s apparent ease of opening, particularly from the inside.
In contrast, it usually takes a skilled crew to unlock and open the hatch of NASA’s Crew Dragon spacecraft following re-entry, a procedure that might take several minutes. Theoretically charged comments grew out of this disparity.
One X user said, “It doesn’t look like a pressurized hatch to me.” “Much like a thin door.” “I’m pretty sure pressurized doors don’t open inwards,” another person commented. The capsule has the appearance of an inflated tent.
The New Shepard capsule, however, only briefly enters suborbital space, rising to a height of 66.5 miles (107 km), which is just above the Karman Line, the generally acknowledged limit of space, as aerospace experts quickly clarified. Extreme pressurization and thermal shielding are not required because it does not re-enter at high velocities like orbiting spacecraft.
In accordance with current spaceflight safety regulations, the hatch is made to be reachable from both the interior and the outside. Escape mechanisms that enable crew members to open hatches from the inside in an emergency have been mandated by NASA and private space corporations since the catastrophic Apollo 1 disaster.
“Doors shall be operable by a single crew member in no more than 60 seconds, from both sides of the hatch,” according to NASA standards.
There is no reason why the crew, in this case Katy Perry, Lauren Sanchez, and others, couldn’t open the capsule themselves once it depressurizes after landing. The most plausible reason is that they were instructed to shut the door again before the cameras rolled after inadvertently ruining a scheduled unveiling with Bezos.
However, this was insufficient to silence the more vocal voices on the internet. The mission became an unavoidable target for fringe theories due to the participation of a well-known celebrity like Katy Perry and Jeff Bezos, a billionaire who is frequently the focus of online scrutiny.
Using Perry’s previous performances, her outfit choices, and even the mission patch—which showed a rocket rising amid stylized female faces—some theorists went even farther, asserting that the trip was a component of a “occult ritual” or symbolic message.
One message stated, “Katy Perry is a well-known industry occult promoter.” “Satanic rituals in the middle of Passover to mock God,” stated another commenter. Why the space? Why now? Why these women? One user even suggested that the patch looked like “a satanic goat with an upside-down cross when flipped,” indicating that it contained secret meanings.
Space missions are naturally susceptible to suspicion, according to Dr. Daniel Jolley, a conspiracy psychology specialist from the University of Nottingham. He continues, “Space is vast, complex, and largely inaccessible to most people.” “Some people find it easier to challenge the official narrative in this situation.”
Professor Karen Douglas, a social psychologist at the University of Kent, notes that individuals look for other answers when they are unclear, particularly during high-profile, rapidly-paced events. “People are looking for clarity,” she says. “Conspiration thinking fills the void when explanations aren’t readily apparent or appear overly planned.”
And when you combine contemporary media production, celebrity involvement, and the wonder of space? For viral speculation, it’s the ideal concoction.
At 14:30 BST (08:30 local time), the Blue Origin NS-31 mission took off from Launch Site One in Texas. Aisha Bowe, Kerianne Flynn, Amanda Nguyen, Gayle King, Lauren Sánchez, and Katy Perry were among the passengers. In barely eleven minutes, the mission crossed the edge of space and made a safe return. Following a brief time of weightlessness, the capsule gently landed close to the launch site after descending behind parachutes.
In this hyperconnected, hyperskeptical world, the door incident may seem insignificant to many, but it shows how easy presentational errors, even something as minor as who opens a door, may stoke deeper doubts.
Ultimately, the flight’s science is still sound. The New Shepard is still a leader in space tourism, providing amateur astronauts with quick suborbital trips.
However, as this episode demonstrates, even a successful space mission may devolve into online myth-making in the era of social media, spectacle, and celebrity, particularly when the stars align just so.