Lauren Sánchez is still reeling from her historic space flight on the New Shepard rocket alongside her fellow crew members Katy Perry, CBS anchor Gayle King, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, activist Amanda Nguyen and film producer Kerianne Flynn.
The 55-year-old took to Instagram to share a powerful message about perspective following her journey with the Blue Origin flight, revealing that she left a part of herself up in space.
Watch the moment the historic flight took off below...
Lauren's new perspective
© Blue Origin"I came back to Earth...but something in me is still up there," she began, alongside a video of the six women mid-flight as zero-gravity took hold.
"There's a silence in space that somehow made everything feel more alive. I looked down at our planet and felt how fragile and beautiful it all is. And how deeply connected we are," she continued.
"This flight wasn't about escape. It was about perspective. About making space — for wonder, for courage, for anyone who's ever questioned if they belong."
© Instagram"Thank you to Blue Origin, to the crew, and to every person who helped us rise," Lauren concluded. "I'm filled with awe. And so much gratitude."
The all-female crew were space-bound for 11 minutes until they came floating back down to the ground.
They were greeted by Lauren's fiancé and Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, who founded Blue Origin in 2000.
A powerful message
© AFP via Getty ImagesThe mother of three handpicked the six-strong crew herself for their varied strengths, sharing with Elle that she couldn't have been happier with her choices.
"All of these women are storytellers in their own right," she told the publication. "They're going to go up to space and be able to spread what they felt in different ways."
For Gayle, an award-winning journalist and a close friend of Oprah Winfrey, she was initially hesitant to accept Lauren's offer to join her in space.
© WireImage"I like to think that for anybody who can look at me and say, 'If she can do that, so can I,'" she told Elle.
"Anybody who knows me is stunned that I'm sitting at the table with this group of people. I'm kind of stunned myself. But I want people to know that you are far more capable of things than you realize. And I am a living example of that."
She continued: "So I'm dedicating this to showing people that number one, it's okay to have dreams. Dreams do not have deadlines. And if you think that you're afraid of something, release the fear and do things that you don't think are possible."
Making dreams come true
© Variety via Getty ImagesGayle and her fellow crew member Aisha became the sixth and seventh Black women to travel to space after Monday's flight.
"This representation really matters," said the former NASA rocket scientist and founder of tech company STEMBoard. "It's people seeing themselves and being able to show up authentically in their careers in the future."
As for Amanda, who studied astrophysics at Harvard and MIT, the Blue Origin flight was an opportunity to reclaim her dream. "It's a dream come true, and for me, it was a dream deferred. I worked at NASA, I studied the stars...but life got in the way," she told Elle.
"Gender-based violence is a big reason why so many women in STEM don't continue on with their training, and I was one of those women," she continued. "After I was sexually assaulted, I traded my telescope to fight for my rights as a sexual assault survivor."
