Gayle King has admitted she is '"disappointed" to hear criticism of her space travel from "friends".
The CBS anchor was part of the six-women team who spent just over 10 minutes in space on Monday April 14, and the 70-year-old has shared that she had "certainly read some of the things online coming from people that I know, that I consider friends".
But, Gayle was not accepting their criticisms lightly, hitting back and asking those with concerns to acknowledge that "space is not an either/or, it’s a both/and".
© Alamy Stock PhotoGayle hits back
"Because you do something in space doesn’t mean you’re taking anything away from Earth, and what you’re doing in space is trying to make things better here on Earth," she told Entertainment Tonight.
"What Blue Origin wants to do is take the waste here and figure out a way to put it in space to make our planet cleaner. Jeff Bezos has so many ideas, and the people that are working there are really devoted and dedicated to making our planet a better place."
© AP"Have you been? If you’ve been and you still feel that way after you come back, please let’s have a conversation," she retorted.
Criticisms from friends
Olivia Wilde, Olivia Munn and Emily Ratajkowski were among those to criticize the multi-billion dollar flight.
"What’s the point? Is it historic that you guys are going on a ride?" Olivia Munn, 44, said during an appearance on Today with Jenna and Friends earlier this month of the flight.
"I think it’s a bit gluttonous," she continued. "Space exploration was to further our knowledge and to help mankind. What are they gonna do up there that has made it better for us down here?"
New Shepherd crew
© Alamy Stock PhotoThe historic all-female crew of Blue Origin's NS-31 blasted off from West Texas, and after a 11-minute ride, achieved a successful landing as well. The crew included Blue Origin owner Jeff Bezos' fiancée Lauren Sánchez, singer Katy Perry, Gayle, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen and film producer Kerianne Flynn.
Aisha, one of only two women in STEM on board the ship, said previous to their flight that she hoped it would inspire middle school girls to pursue STEM fields.
"I read a stat that there's a huge majority of middle school girls who decide not to pursue STEM fields, although they otherwise would have been interested, because they see them as male-dominated fields. So this representation really matters. It's people seeing themselves and being able to show up authentically in their careers in the future," she said.
DEI fears
However, her comments come as women in STEM fields have been sounding the alarm over President Donald Trump’s executive orders that label diversity, equity and inclusion programs – that help to ensure a broad workforce – as "discriminatory".
Many fear the orders will limit access to a range of careers in STEM, with many scientists, engineers and other federal employees telling NBC News during their investigation "that they fear for their professional future".
"Scientific integrity demands diversity, and that we know that we get better outcomes when we have diversity amongst research teams, and because they bring different perspectives," said one anonymous government employee, who was placed on leave in January when the orders came into place.
