The Internet Is Having A Field Day Over Gayle King’s Face Ahead Of Her Journey Into Space

Katy Perry and Gayle King got to spend about 10 minutes in space on April 14, thanks to Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin company. The crew made history as the first all-female space flight since 1963, and they described what sounds like a life-changing experience once they returned. That doesn’t mean there weren’t nerves. King appeared positively terrified as she boarded the New Shepard, and the Internet can’t stop talking about the look on her face.

On Monday, many gathered to watch the historic launch — covered live on CBS and with a Paramount+ subscription — but as former American Idol judge Katy Perry, Bezos’ fiancée Lauren Sanchez and the others made their way onto the spacecraft, it was impossible not to notice how terrified Gayle King looked. As one X (Twitter) fan noted:

Big smiles were seen on the faces of the New Shepard crew, who looked pumped for their 10-minute trip as they enthusiastically rang the mission bell. Well, except for Gayle King, who looked a bit wary of the decisions she’d made to get her to that point.

The CBS anchor certainly can’t be judged for feeling that way. Even Star Trek’s William Shatner admitted to being “really terrified” when he took his own trip above the Kármán line in 2021. Another fan posted:

While the live coverage showed lots of smiles and cheering as the six-woman team floated around in zero gravity, Gayle King and Katy Perry were apparently relieved to touch solid ground again, as they were seen kissing the ground after exiting the Blue Origin vehicle. Fans expressed concern for Oprah’s BFF, as one joked:

Gayle King addressed her obvious fear after the New Shepard’s safe return, saying at press conference (via Buzzfeed):

Now that she’s safely back on Earth after her quick roundtrip, it feels OK to laugh at the memes that will no doubt continue to pop up, like this one:

I think we can all relate to feeling like this at some point, and none of my experiences making this facial expression have included exiting the Earth’s atmosphere:

While William Shatner gave a bleak description of the “cold, dark, black emptiness” of space, Gayle King opted for the more optimistic adjectives “quiet and peaceful” to describe her journey, saying (per NPR):

It’s nice to hear what all of the passengers took away from their life-changing flight, and we’re happy that Gayle King and the rest made it safely back to Earth.