The best memes from Katy Perry’s voyage to space

The new season of Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror has been heralded as a “five star” return to form. This weekend, though, the dystopian sci-fi series once again found itself struggling to keep up with the absurdity of real life in the 2020s, as we received images of Katy Perry travelling to space on board one of Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rockets.

In case it somehow hasn’t crossed your timeline yet, Perry blasted off yesterday (April 14) and flew about 62 miles above sea level to the Kármán line, which is widely regarded as the boundary line between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space. She was up there for all of... 11 minutes before returning to solid ground in Texas. And why did she board the rocket in the first place? To take her girlboss feminism to new frontiers? To achieve escape velocity from the gravitational pull of the Khia Asylum? Well, not officially. 

Officially, it was to celebrate a crew of all-women trailblazers. Alongside Perry, this crew included Gayle King, engineer Aisha Bowe, author and activist Amanda Nguyễn, film producer Kerianne Flynn, and journalist Lauren Sánchez (AKA Jeff Bezos’s wife). “Each of these women is a storyteller who will use their voices – individually and together – to channel their life-changing experience today into creating lasting impact that will inspire people across our planet for generations,” said Phil Joyce, senior vice president at Blue Origin’s New Shepard programme, ahead of the flight. “Thank you to this remarkable crew for uplifting so many on their historic journey toward the stars and back.”

Some of the passengers use their voice more than others, of course. Katy Perry has already confirmed that she’s planning to write a song about the experience, but she treated her fellow astronauts to a sing-song during the flight as well, with a rendition of Louis Armstrong’s “What A Wonderful World”. In a post-flight interview, Gayle King – having experienced zero gravity, an unparalleled view of the moon, and a moving insight into the planet we call home – even described this performance as “the best part”. Each to their own!

Of course, the event hasn’t been without controversy, with critics taking aim at the wasteful nature of celebrity spaceflight (despite Perry’s newfound revelation about the need to preserve our planet’s ecosystems: “Oh my God, we have to protect our mother”). Others targeted her grandiose statements as she left the rocket and kissed the Texan earth, claiming to have embarked on the high-altitude sightseeing trip “all for the benefit of Earth”. But the most acute criticism, as always, came in the form of internet memes. See below.