- READ MORE: Sceptics claim rocket launch with Katy Perry had 'the worst CGI'
Katy Perry His journey to space took place aboard Jeff Bezos ' Blue Origin The rocket has attracted numerous conspiracy theories ever since the crew arrived back on Monday.
Currently, internet skeptics believe they've uncovered definitive proof that suggests the whole mission was fabricated.
Social media enthusiasts with keen eyes have noticed what seems to be a counterfeit hand aboard the New Shepard capsule that carried the entirely female crew.
On X, formerly Twitter One commenter with a suspicious mindset stated: 'There is certainly something amiss about the Blue Origin space flight that involved Katy Perry.'
Surprisingly, this time the conspiracy theories turn out to be accurate – though perhaps not exactly as their proponents envision.
The viral picture which has ignited a new wave of conspiracy theories really does show a mannequin aboard the New Shepard capsule.
This image, however, shows the inaugural test flight of the New Shepard Capsule from 2017, rather than the NS-31 mission conducted by Katy Perry and Lauren Sanchez.
However, this didn’t prevent the rumor from circulating rapidly across social media platforms, where a conspiracy theorist proclaimed: ‘Mannequins have been verified.’
On Monday at 14:30 BST (09:30 local time), The NS-31 mission was launched from Blue Origin's Launch Site One. approximately 30 miles north of Van Horn, Texas.
Aboard were Jeff Bezos’ fiancée Lauren Sánchez, pop icon Katy Perry, CBS Morning host Gayle King, movie producer Kerianne Flynn, advocate Amanda Nguyen, and ex-NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe.
Although their 11-minute flight to the edge of space was well-documented and streamed live online, many people have become suspicious that the mission never really occurred.
The latest wave of scepticism emerged yesterday morning as images of a synthetic-looking hand through the New Shepard capsule window began to circulate on social media.
Users on social media platforms, who were already doubtful about the legitimacy of the flight, jumped at this information as concrete evidence supporting their beliefs.
On this day, a commentator posted: "Why is there a placeholder hand displayed on the Blue Origin?"
'Looks definitely like a dummy with a glossy hand,' mentioned someone else.
A commentator added: "Hey! It seems like a Barbie hand or maybe it’s Ken's?"
Other commentators rightly noted that there were several discrepancies between the hand in the image and those of the NS-31 team.
A doubtful observer commented: "That spacesuit in the image looks extremely loose! The bold ladies opted for incredibly snug spandex outfits instead. It’s not even close."
As someone else noted: "It doesn’t appear to be made of the same glossy material that the girls are wearing."
For numerous online conspiracy theorists, this seemed to serve as the conclusive piece of proof required. demonstrate that Katy Perry was never actually in space.
As per the conspiracy theory, the Blue Origin mission was allegedly filmed in an earthly movie studio with the use of computer-generated imagery (CGI). used to simulate a rocket launch.
Similarly, certain individuals think that no human beings were aboard the flight initially and that the personnel seen during filming were replacements brought in afterward.
Like one conspiracist bluntly stated: "Wondering what was contained within the capsule upon landing before they switched off the cameras for about 10 minutes to replace the dummies with the so-called astro-hoes."
Nevertheless, after closer inspection, it becomes abundantly clear that this assertion is entirely untrue.
Many commentators have noted that this image clearly does not depict the Blue Origin NS-31 launch that occurred on Monday.
This statement refers to the initial test flight of the New Shepard Crew Capsule 2.0, which occurred on December 12, 2017.
The flight featured a mannequin that was playfully called Mannequin Skywalker, with part of its arm visible in the popular image.
Images and videos from this test flight can be found online, and the launch garnered extensive coverage when it occurred.
Even a cursory comparison of the 2017 launch and Katy Perry's flight shows that this is not the same crew capsule.
The lettering on the New Shepard capsule from the 2017 mission appears in blue, whereas the lettering on the NS-31 crew capsule is distinctly black.
In the larger image, you can observe that there is just one mannequin aboard, compared to the six members of the NS-31 crew.
Nevertheless, even though there is no proof indicating that the launch was staged, gossip has persisted and disseminated quickly across the internet.
This comes amid a rise in speculations circulating on social media platforms following Commentators noticed an awkward mistake during the capsule's touchdown.
Once the New Shepard capsule touched down, Blue Origin’s founder Jeff Bezos enthusiastically used a special instrument to pry open the door and welcome aboard an all-women team.
Nevertheless, video taken mere moments beforehand plainly depicts the capsule door being opened internally and then quickly closed again.
Online conspiracy theorists pounced on this peculiar incident, trumpeting it as 'irrefutable evidence' that the mission was staged.
On X, previously known as Twitter, an unconvinced user commented: "This seems like the final blow. It’s all fake!"
The more plausible scenario is probably that a crew member accidentally opened the door and then closed it again to provide Jeff Bezos with an optimal setting for taking photographs.
Conspiracy theorists jumped on the detail that the door opened inwardly and noted that the capsule appeared to lack any signs of scorching typically associated with re-entry.
They argued that these details do not add up for a pressurized capsule intended to journey into outer space.
However, these concerns can be addressed by the fact that the New Shepard capsule only just reached outer space.
The crew module reached a peak height of 66.5 miles (107 kilometers), surpassing the Kármán Line, which marks the recognized edge of space.
At this height, the air is sparse yet the capsule doesn’t experience the full emptiness of space as vessels bound for the International Space Station do.
This indicates that New Shepard doesn’t require heavily reinforced outward-hinging doors similar to those of the Crew Dragon.
Moreover, because it hardly escaped the atmosphere, the capsule’s comeback from Earth did not generate the same level of heat as a usual re-entry burn that would typically sear the outside similar to how a SpaceX Crew Dragon does when coming back from orbit.
Moreover, following the Apollo 1 tragedy where a module caught fire on the launchpad, it became customary for capsules to have exit options from either side.
Actually, NASA's safety regulations explicitly require that 'the doors must be operable by one crew member within 60 seconds at most, from either side of the hatch'.
It indicates that it’s not out of the ordinary for one of the team members to be capable of unlocking the door from within, thus foiling Jeff Bezos' big unveiling.
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