{"id":53041,"date":"2025-04-18T13:05:35","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T13:05:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/greg-james-floats-air-force-huns-space-idea\/"},"modified":"2025-04-18T13:05:37","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T13:05:37","slug":"greg-james-floats-air-force-huns-space-idea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/greg-james-floats-air-force-huns-space-idea\/","title":{"rendered":"Greg James floats ‘Air Force Huns’ space idea"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Riyah Collins<\/span><\/p>\n

BBC Newsbeat<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Greg James got in touch with Sir Richard Branson for the segment inspired by a listener texting in <\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Sir Richard Branson has responded to BBC Radio 1’s Greg James’ bid for an “Air Force Hun” mission to create a British version of the all-female flight that sent pop star Katy Perry to the edge of space. <\/p>\n

The Firework singer was one of six women on Monday’s 11-minute space flight<\/a>, organised by billionaire Amazon owner Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin.<\/p>\n

Inspired by a listener texting in, Greg floated the idea of a UK equivalent called Air Force Hun with British billionaire Sir Richard, using his company Virgin Galactic.<\/p>\n

The presenter suggested it be crewed by Gemma Collins, Alison Hammond, Carol Vorderman, Natalie Cassidy and Denise Welch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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And during the Radio 1 Breakfast show, the businessman got in touch with Greg to suggest starting with an “astronaut experience” for the crew.<\/p>\n

He revealed Sir Richard followed him on Instagram and responded positively when he sent a message pitching the space flight, though he stopped short of committing to a full space mission.<\/p>\n

The reply, according to Greg was: “As we embark on these giant leaps for hunkind, why don’t we first start with an astronaut experience for you all while we continue to reach for the stars.”<\/p>\n

BBC Newsbeat has contacted Sir Richard’s representatives for further comment. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

‘It starts off as a joke…’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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“I know I’m going up to space,” Gemma Collins told Radio 1<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Reality star Gemma “might be claustrophobic, Darren”, but since Sir Richard’s response that might be the only thing stopping her blasting to the edge of space.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Radio 1, she says she is “ready to go to space”.<\/p>\n

“I’d like to see if there’s aliens really up there and I’d also like to make an absolute fortune out of it.<\/p>\n

“The only thing I’m worried about is I’m claustrophobic,” she adds. “I’m totally claustrophobic.”<\/p>\n

As for her proposed crew mates, Gemma says she “couldn’t think of a better five women to go”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Alison says she’s up for space travel but “might have a panic attack”<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Listeners suggested she be accompanied by Great British Bake Off presenter Alison, Countdown legend Carol, EastEnders actress Natalie, and Loose Women panellist Denise. <\/p>\n

“We are the ultimate huns and we all need to go to space,” Gemma says. “We would have such fun.”<\/p>\n

Carol says going to space has always been a dream of hers and she’d definitely be up for being on board.<\/p>\n

“When I was growing up, it was the first Apollo missions,” she says.<\/p>\n

“Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landing on the moon was the biggest thing to happen in my primary school years and I always wanted to be an astronaut.<\/p>\n

“And then I realised when I got to the age of going to uni and I was a free school meals kid and I thought, well I’m not American and I’m a woman so I’ve got no chance.”<\/p>\n

But it drove her to pursue an engineering degree and now Carol even has a pilot’s licence.<\/p>\n

Carol says if she goes to space it might create some family friction as her daughter, scientist Katie King, founded a company that uses the conditions in space to help manufacture drugs. <\/p>\n

“She’s proper clever,” says Carol. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Carol says she’s dreamed of being an astronaut since the Apollo missions in the 1960s<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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“You’ve got Carol who can actually fly a plane, I can fly a kite,” says Alison, adding: “I am ready for Air Force Huns”.<\/p>\n

“I think this could become serious,” the presenter says. “It starts off as a joke but this could actually be real.<\/p>\n

“I’m gonna be nervous, I might have a little bit of a panic attack, but absolutely I’m in.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

‘This isn’t feminism’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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Monday’s Blue Origin flight was fully autonomous, meaning it did not need pilots to fly the six women more than 100km (62 miles) above Earth, to the Karman line – widely recognised as the boundary of space. <\/p>\n

The crew, which included Bezos’s fianc\u00e9e Lauren S\u00e1nchez and CBS presenter Gayle King alongside Katy Perry, experienced a few moments of weightlessness during the 11-minute flight. <\/p>\n

However critics have questioned the environmental cost of sending celebrities to space. <\/p>\n

There has also been backlash from some scientists as well as celebrities like reality star Vicky Pattinson and model and actress Emily Ratajkowski.<\/p>\n

“This isn’t feminism,” Vicky said on Instagram after the launch.<\/p>\n

“I don’t think we need to see a bunch of uber rich women fired into space… for five minutes,” she wrote. <\/p>\n

“When I think of all the things this money could have been used to do, I honestly feel ashamed.”<\/p>\n

Emily said on TikTok the mission was “beyond parody”, adding there was a “very small group of people who are interested in going to space for the sake of getting a new lease on life while most people on planet Earth are worried about paying rent”.<\/p>\n

The cost of the flight has not been disclosed, however a $150,000 (\u00a3114,575.85) deposit is required to reserve a seat. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Listen to Newsbeat live<\/a> at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays – or listen back here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


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Riyah Collins BBC Newsbeat BBC Greg James got in touch with Sir Richard Branson for the segment inspired by a listener texting in Sir Richard Branson has responded to BBC Radio 1’s Greg James’ bid for an “Air Force Hun” mission to create a British version of the all-female flight that sent pop star Katy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":53042,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[279],"tags":[2422,16670,2885,7974,16916,463,2029,529],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53041"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53041"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53041\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53043,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53041\/revisions\/53043"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}