Blue Origin’s first-ever all-women space mission was supposed to be a historic moment. Instead, it’s being torn apart online by people who think the crew accidentally exposed it as a hoax with one awkward blunder.
The spaceflight, which took off at 10:00AM EDT on Monday, April 14, from Blue Origin’s Launch Site One in West Texas, carried a star-studded crew: pop icon Katy Perry, journalist and Bezos’ fiancée Lauren Sánchez, Gayle King, Kerianne Flynn, Amanda Nguyen, and Aisha Bowe.
The flight marked the first all-women crew in space since 1963, when Valentina Tereshkova launched solo with the Soviet Union.
It should’ve been a clean win for Blue Origin.
Instead, it turned into what experts are calling a “perfect storm” for criticism… and conspiracy theories.
“Definitive Proof” It Was Fake?
Moments after the capsule returned to Earth, Jeff Bezos himself stepped up, special tool in hand, and theatrically “opened” the hatch.
But footage from just moments earlier shows something weird: the crew inside had already opened the door — then hastily shut it.
And that’s all it took for the internet to lose its mind.
One X (formerly Twitter) user wrote: “The Blue Origin New Shepherd-31 door ‘accidentally’ opened from INSIDE by the ladies. In a panic they were told to shut it only so moments later Jeff Bezos could use a ‘special’ tool to open it (that clearly wasn’t needed). Why the theatrics?”
Another declared: “The moment they almost ruined the fake opening of the door for Jeff… keep your eyes on the door the first few seconds, don’t blink… then edit to the moment he opens it.”
Another X user chimed in: “This s*** is so fake. Watch the door be opened from the inside; then they need a tool to open it from the outside.”
Some even claimed it was “the nail in the coffin” for those who believed the flight was real.
“It was fake. The girls opened the door to begin with from the inside with no tools,” one user wrote. “They then waited a few minutes, and Jeff Bezos stepped up with some sort of tool and acted like he unlocked the latch.”
One commenter wrote: “Can’t post this fake s*** enough.”
Another said: “Told to close the door to keep up the impression of the mission being real.”
Why Is There So Much Attention On The Door?
The central claim? That a real spacecraft hatch should not open from the inside — especially not after re-entry.
In comparison, people pointed to NASA’s Crew Dragon capsule, where engineers take several minutes to unlock the hatch after astronauts return from the International Space Station.
“Pretty sure pressurised doors don’t open inwards,” one commenter said. “The capsule looks like it’s an inflatable tent.”
“Doesn’t look like a pressurised hatch to me. More like a flimsy door,” another added.
Another posted: “The trip was faked. Aside from the faked door opening by Overlord Bezos, the paint on the capsule isn’t even slightly scorched from re-entry.”
For many already skeptical of the mission, that was enough.
Experts: “The Perfect Conspiracy Cocktail”
While the footage is real, conspiracy experts say it’s a textbook case of internet imagination running wild.
“Space is vast, complex and largely inaccessible to most people,” Dr. Daniel Jolley, a psychologist specializing in conspiracies at the University of Nottingham, told MailOnline. “In this context, it becomes easier for some individuals to question the official narrative.”
And question they did.
Some claimed the capsule looked “too clean,” others said the landing footage was “too perfect,” and several insisted it didn’t even go to space at all.
But here’s the reality: New Shepard hit an altitude of 66.5 miles (107 km) — just over the Kármán Line, the internationally recognized boundary of space. Unlike long-range missions, Blue Origin’s suborbital flight doesn’t require the same intense heat shielding as an ISS return.
That’s why the capsule wasn’t scorched.
As for the door? Well, NASA’s own safety guidelines say: “Doors shall be operable by a single crew member in no more than 60 seconds, from both sides of the hatch.”
In short: they certainly can open from inside, especially after the capsule has depressurized upon landing.
So why the quick re-close?
The most likely explanation? They ruined Jeff Bezos’ big hero shot.
The moment was clearly a perfect opportunity for a photo op, with Blue Origin founder Bezos dramatically opening the door from outside using a “special” tool. In a world ruled by PR, it’s hardly the first time real moments have been re-shot for the cameras.
Of course, the mission’s celebrity crew only fueled the flames. With names like Katy Perry and Jeff Bezos involved, some social media users weren’t just skeptical — they were, like the door, fully unhinged.
Nevertheless, of course the mission was real. The capsule reached space. The crew returned safely. But to some corners of the internet, a mis-timed door is all it takes to rewrite reality.
Meanwhile, the trip has faced scrutiny from a number of celebrities, with many bashing the all-female mission.