Katy Perry has officially returned to Earth, presumably because the silence of the vacuum was finally less grating than the noise of the music industry. It is a bold move to treat orbital mechanics like a Coachella set change, but here we are, pretending that a pop star taking a joyride is a cultural milestone. We have reached the zenith of celebrity entitlement when an A-lister treats the International Space Station like a boutique hotel lounge.

While NASA and actual scientists are busy doing things that matter, the entertainment machine is just recycling the same tired narratives under the guise of outer space exploration. - The stunt required massive logistical coordination from space agencies. - Public interest peaked for approximately three minutes before the internet went back to doom-scrolling.

- The carbon footprint of this ego trip surely outweighs the artistic merit of her latest creative output. This is not progress, nor is it a bold step for humanity, unless your version of humanity is exclusively populated by people with platinum records and a complete lack of self-awareness. One has to wonder if the zero-gravity environment finally gave her the distance needed to realize that we really did not need another pop-star-in-orbit documentary.

The industry is currently operating on a level of detachment that would be impressive if it weren't so transparently desperate. By turning space travel into an influencer experience, Perry has successfully sucked the last remaining bit of wonder out of the stars. Are we supposed to be impressed by the spectacle, or are we just witnessing the final, gasping breath of the traditional celebrity PR cycle?

Since orbital tourism is now officially for the pop-star elite, which fading icon is going to try and film a music video on the surface of Mars next?