It’s one thing to fly across the country for work. It’s another thing entirely to launch out of Earth’s atmosphere at Mach 3, float in zero gravity, and return home before your morning coffee cools off. On Monday (April 14), CBS correspondent Gayle King joined pop star Katy Perry, journalist Lauren Sánchez (also the fiancée of Jeff Bezos), former NASA scientist Aisha Bowe, bioastronautics expert Amanda Nguyen, and film producer Kerianne Flynn for Blue Origin’s 11th human flight — its first-ever with an all-women crew.

This was no easy lift-off for Gayle, who’s been open about her fear of flying. Despite this, she pushed through and strapped into the space capsule before rocketing 62 miles above the Earth on a ten-minute roundtrip to the Kármán line, also known as the edge of space.

“I’m so proud of me right now. I just can’t believe it,” she said after the landing, still processing the magnitude of what she’d just done. “I stepped out of my comfort zone in a way that I never thought was possible for me.”

A tearful Gayle King faced her fear and flew into space like a legend

Before the launch in Van Horn, Texas, Gayle was spotted crying in the front seat of a car, clearly overcome with nerves and anticipation. Cameras caught her wiping away tears before stepping out in her designer space suit, trying to channel calm while loved ones like Oprah Winfrey (who appeared to share in those emotions) watched nearby. Even Perry cracked a joke before it all went down.

“She said, ‘Gayle, may I interrupt for a second?’ because we had been on the phone for well over 30 minutes. ‘Our flight is going to be shorter than this frigging phone call,’” King recalled her saying. She also noted that Perry added to the experience by singing “What a Wonderful World” mid-flight.

Inside the capsule, audio captured her marveling at the silence and serenity of space, gazing down at the Earth and soaking in the gravity (or lack thereof) of the moment. “It’s really quiet and peaceful. You look down there and you think, ‘That’s where we came from?’” she reflected. “It's such a reminder about how we need to do better, be better. Do better, be better human beings.”

Gayle’s Blue Origin journey had social media rooting for her return until the end

After safely landing in the Texas desert, Gayle dropped to her knees, kissed the dirt, and declared, “Just need to appreciate the ground for a second. Thank you, Jesus.” Naturally, fans and supporters on X understood the assignment.

“Gayle King is SO d**n glad that she’s back on solid land!” wrote one user, summing up the nation’s collective sigh of relief. Meanwhile, another delivered the new automatic out-of-office message of the year. “Sorry I missed your email,” the post read, “I was making sure Gayle King survived.”

Still, not everyone clocked that the trip was more intermission than interstellar. “Gayle King had me thinking they [were] about to be in space for days... not less than 10 mins,” joked a viewer, while someone asked the real question: “Y’all thought Gayle King was going to the moon?”

Check out additional reactions below. Welcome back to Earth, Ms. King. You’ve earned your wings — and new memes, probably.