Gayle King reveals reason behind her viral reaction before being launched into space

On Monday (14 April), six celebrities were launched into space on one of billionaire Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin space tourism flights.

The all-female crew included American journalist and Bezos' fiancée Lauren Sánchez, Katy Perry, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, CBS Mornings and SiriusXM radio host Gayle King, and decorated film producer Kerianne Flynn.

While the group of six flew into space for a total of 11 minutes, reaching heights of more than 100km (62 miles) above Earth before safely making their way back down to their home planet, it's clear one of the most memorable moments was King's reaction ahead of making the short trip into the cosmos which has since gone viral on social media.

And now, the 70-year-old TV personality has explained the reason as to why she looks so extremely gutted before 'making history' - given that the last all-female spaceflight was over 60 years ago, when Soviet Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to travel into space on a solo mission aboard the spacecraft Vostok 6.

The moment in question, which has since become material for countless memes online, shows King looking visibly distressed as she boarded Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket - something which was made even more noticeable compared to how stoked the other five crew members seemed on the day.

King has since explained her 'daunting' reaction during a news conference after the short flight.

"At that moment I was so afraid, I just wanted to get into my seat because I just wanted to let the training kick in," she recalled.

"I just wanted to get inside the capsule and sit down," King continued. "So the process of walking up there was a little daunting for me."

She later recounted how a friend tried to calm her down ahead of the experience, saying: "I got a text from a friend who’s from Germany - so, you know, you have to appreciate the sense of humour - he says, 'Once you get there, you’re going to feel like it’s sex with the gods'.

"Well, [I've] never had sex with a god to my knowledge, so thank you for the visual," she continued. "I didn’t think that, but I did think that with all the stuff that you hear about the blackness and the blues - it’s the neon blue [up in space], and it’s still and it’s quiet and you’re all feeling this experience together. I know I will never forget it."

Following the 11-minute trip, she concluded: "I walked out of there thinking, gosh I can do anything.

"I’m so proud of us, I really am proud of me, because I never in a gazillion years thought I could do this."

People have since taken to social media to share their gripes with the 'vanity' spaceflight, with one Instagram user writing: "This is not history to me. They are not astronauts, they did nothing special, and the fact we are treating this like it is a historical event of 'women first in space' is disgraceful."

"Waste of money & a disgrace when people live in need," echoed a second, while a third declared: "Valentina Tereshkova and Sally Ride are the true HERstory. These women just did it for few minutes of viral sensationalism."

A fourth pointed out: "The world is literally falling apart, and this is what we are celebrating?"

"11 minutes. Wonder the price and where that money could’ve gone otherwise. We just look silly now," lamented a fifth, while another questioned: "Why aren’t people more concerned about impact these vanity rocket launches have on the environment?"

And a final Instagram user added: "What a waste of money... what is this proving? Who is it helping? A bunch of rich people cosplaying astronaut."