Good Morning America co-anchor and NFL hall of fame member Michael Strahan is ready for blast-off.
He'll be joining Laura Shepard Churchley - eldest daughter of the first man in space Alan Shepard - and four other private passengers on Blue Origin's next flight into space. Take-off is scheduled for December 9, 2021.
The news was announced in a special segment on GMA, which also showed Strahan preparing for his trip by testing out the flight seat and trying on his spacesuit.
The former New York Giants player, 50, will be traveling with Jeff Bezos's space exploration company Blue Origin.
His craft - the New Shephard - is the third of its kind to shuttle humans into space this year and takes its name from the pioneering astronaut. It will launch from Texas with six passengers, including the first father and son to travel to space together.
Blue Origin's first launch, Texas, July 21, 2021. Credit: Xinhua / Alamy
Strahan said that he was invited to be a member of the crew after he covered Blue Origin's first flight in July, adding that he agreed immediately.
GMA will cover Strahan and his fellow crew members as they prepare for the launch, but will not have any special access to the flight itself.
The first private space flight was launched in July by Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic, with Branson himself on board. Bezos followed nine days later on Blue Origin's first shuttle, which had a crew of just four people.
Blue Origin New Shepard Rocket. Credit: UPI / Alamy
Last month, Blue Origin's second flight launched Star Trek star William Shatner into space. At 90, Shatner became the oldest person ever to travel on a space rocket.
SpaceX - Elon Musk's space exploration company - launched their first off-planet voyage in mid-September. Unlike Bezos and Branson, Musk did not join his crew.
Pete Davidson will be leaving planet Earth behind next week - if all goes to plan.
The Saturday Night Live star is officially booked into Blue Origin's next voyage, Space.com reports. The aerospace company - founded by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos - announced this week that Davidson is all set to take the March 23 trip into suborbital space onboard its New Shepard craft.
Comedian Davidson is not the first celeb to hitch a ride on the New Shepard. Star Trek legend William Shatner and former NFL star Michael Strahan have both been on the passenger list for previous launches, as has Amazon founder Jeff Bezos who owns the space exploration company.
Pete Davidson attending the Met Gala in New York City in September 2021. Credit: Abaca Press / Alamy
Meanwhile, though Davidson's fellow passengers appear to be paying customers, it looks like he's getting a free ride on the Blue Origin flight, as a Blue Origin spokesperson said on Monday that Davidson would fly as "an honorary guest" and "alongside five customers".
The official price of a seat aboard New Shepard has not yet been released. However, Blue Origin's key competitor, Virgin Galactic, is currently charging an eye-watering $450,000 a head to ride its VSS Unity spaceplane - even though the craft is still yet to carry paying passengers.
Unsurprisingly, it's an array of wealthy individuals who are lined up to join Davidson on his voyage to the stars. The passenger list currently includes businessman and angel investor Marty Allen, entrepreneur Jim Kitchen, philanthropic couple Sharon and Marc Hagle, and president of Commercial Space Technologies and former NASA manager George Nield.
Per Space.com, the mission will be Blue Origin's fourth crewed spaceflight and the 20th flight overall for the New Shepard craft. Liftoff is scheduled for 9.30 AM EDT at the company's West Texas launch facility.
Blue Origin's New Shepard craft lifting off in December 2021. Credit: Abaca Press / Alamy
Blue Origin will provide a live stream so viewers can follow the launch live at the time.
The flight will take passengers more than 62 miles above the Earth's surface, allowing them to experience weightlessness as well as gaze down on the planet. Passengers will touchdown approximately 11 minutes after they took off.
Jeff Bezos has met with Blue Origin's New Shepherd rocket crew the day before its launch into space.
Following hot on the heels of Richard Branson's space flight this weekend, the 57-year-old Amazon founder appeared in a series of interviews with his Blue Origin crewmates 24 hours before their scheduled lift-off from West Texas.
Bezos shared a number of images and videos of himself socializing with the crew on his official Instagram.
Uploading a picture of himself, his brother Mark Bezos, and his fellow passengers Wally Funk and Oliver Daemen, Bezos wrote to his 3 million followers on the platform:
"Had a great dinner with the crew last night. West Texas is beautiful!"
Bezos also shared a video of himself interacting with the crew, showing them training in preparation for their July 20 launch, and wrote: "We've been practicing full missions in New Shepard’s training simulator. Can't wait for liftoff."
Funk, aged 82, was one of the so-called 'Mercury 13', a group of women who received privately funded astronaut training in the 1960s, but who were ultimately prevented from ever doing into space.
She made aviation history by becoming the first female US military flight instructor and the first female air safety investigator for the National Transport Safety Board.
Meanwhile, Daemen joined the crew when the former winner of an auction for a place on the flight was forced to drop out due to prior commitments.
At 18 years old, this will make him the youngest person to ever travel into space.
Commenting on his cosmic initiative in an interview with CNN, Bezos stated: "We'll be building a road to space for the next generation to do amazing things and those amazing things will improve things here on earth."
He continued: "I could have done this flight as CEO of Amazon and it would have been fine. We really believe this flight is safe. I did have friends say: 'why not wait for the second or third flight, why do you have to go now?'
"But we know the vehicle is safe and if it's not safe for me then it's not safe for anyone. But we've taken this one step at a time, our mascot is the tortoise... we are ready."
An 18-year old physics student has secured a highly coveted seat on a flight to space with Jeff Bezos after a $28 million auction winner pulled out of the trip at the 11th hour.
Bezos' spaceflight company Blue Origin is running the historic flight on Tuesday, July 20, and less than a week before the trip, the firm announced on its website that an unnamed individual had to bow out after winning the auctioned off seat due to "scheduling conflicts".
According to CNN Business, the auction winner will instead take a seat on a future mission to space.
The firm also shared that recent high school graduate Oliver Daemen would be taking the anonymous individual's seat and flying to space on the company's space tourism rocket New Shepard with Bezos, his brother Mark Bezos, and 82-year-old pilot Wally Funk.
At 18, Daemen will be the youngest person to travel to space, while Funk will be the oldest.
Blue Origin welcomed the new passenger in a statement, saying: "Today, Blue Origin announced Oliver Daemen will be the first paying customer to fly onboard New Shepard, marking the beginning of commercial operations for the program."
It added: "The winner of Blue Origin’s auction, who has asked to remain anonymous at this time, has chosen to fly on a future New Shepard mission due to scheduling conflicts.
"Club for the Future announced this week the auction gift has enabled Club to donate $1 million to 19 non-profit organizations ($19 million in total), all of which are working to support the future of living and working in space."
A Blue Origin spokesperson said told CNN Business, Daemen "was a participant in the auction and had secured a seat on the second flight. We moved him up when this seat on the first flight became available."
"We're not disclosing how much he paid," the spokesperson added.
A source told the outlet that Daemen's father Joes paid for his son's seat on the flight.
Dad Joes is the founder and CEO of Somerset Capital Partners - an investment company based in the Netherlands.
His teenage son, who will be studying physics at the University of Utrecht in September, said of the upcoming spaceflight in a video posted on social media: "I am super excited to go into space. I've been dreaming about this all my life."
Jeff Bezos is going to fly into space on the first crewed flight of the New Shephard rocket.
Per CNN Business, the 57-year-old Amazon founder announced that he will be part of the crew of the maiden voyage of the spacecraft made by his company Bue Origin, along with his brother Mark Bezos.
The world's richest man is due to depart in the manned spaceflight on July 20th - a mere 15 days after he is due to resign as the CEO of Amazon.
Bezos announced that he will be joining the spaceflight in a post made on his official Instagram account on Monday, June 7.
In a caption addressed to his 2.8 million followers on the platform, the multi-billionaire wrote: "Ever since I was five years old, I’ve dreamed of traveling to space.
"On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend."
Credit: Alamy/Blue Origin
CNN reports that the upcoming space mission will see the company's six-seater capsule and 59-foot rocket fly to the very edge of space on an 11-minute-long flight reaching more than 60 miles above the planet Earth's surface.
However, the Amazon founder is also offering the chance for a member of the public to come along for the ride.
In May, Blue Origin announced that a ticket aboard will be given to the winner of a month-long auction for the single spare seat on the vessel.
Writing in another Instagram caption, Bezos stated: "On July 20th, #NewShepard will fly its first astronaut crew to space."
He continued: "We are offering one seat on this first flight to the winning bidder of @BlueOrigin’s online auction. Starting today, anyone can place an opening bid by going to BlueOrigin.com.
"The winning bid amount will be donated to Blue Origin’s foundation, @ClubforFuture, to inspire future generations to pursue careers in STEM and help invent the future of life in space. This seat will change how you see the world."
According to the above publication, the bidding has already reached $2.8 million at the time of writing.
In a 2018 interview with Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner, Bezos spoke about his abiding interest in space exploration, stating: "I've been studying it and thinking about it since I was a five-year-old boy.
"But that is not why I'm pursuing this work. I'm pursuing this work because I believe if we don't, we will eventually end up with a civilization of stasis, which I find very demoralizing."
Katy Perry has offered fans a behind-the-scenes look at the capsule that will soon carry her into space.
The 40-year-old singer is set to launch from Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin’s Launch Site One in West Texas on Monday (April 14).
Joining her on the mission are author Lauren Sanchez, who is dating the billionaire; TV host Gayle King; civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen; former rocket scientist Aisha Bowe; and filmmaker Kerianne Flynn.
The all-female crew will embark on a suborbital flight lasting just 11 minutes, soaring 100 kilometers above the Earth - enough to officially enter space.
Katy Perry will be going to space. Credit: Gilbert Flores / Getty
Perry took to Instagram to share a first glimpse inside the capsule, showing off the tight-knit space that will house all six women during the flight.
“I think I’m gonna sing,” she said in the video. “I’ve got to sing in space!” She added: “These are all of my astronaut girly friends,” as she panned the camera across the capsule’s interior.
But even as the 'Fireworks' vocalist beams with anticipation, concerns about the safety of the Blue Origin capsule have reemerged.
Back in 2021, a group of 21 current and former employees raised alarms about the safety of the New Shepard rocket used for suborbital flights like this one.
“In the opinion of an engineer who has signed on to this essay, ‘Blue Origin has been lucky that nothing has happened so far,’” the employees wrote in a letter published by Business Insider. “Many of this essay’s authors say they would not fly on a Blue Origin vehicle.”
While space flight remains one of the riskiest modes of transportation, with approximately one percent of US space flights resulting in fatalities, Blue Origin defended the integrity of its program in response.
“We stand by our safety record and believe that New Shepard is the safest space vehicle ever designed or built,” the company said at the time.
The company’s safety record was further tested in August 2022 when an unmanned rocket suffered an engine nozzle malfunction, forcing the capsule to abort mid-flight and parachute to safety. The incident led to a temporary grounding of flights.
Despite the fears, Perry seems to be placing her faith in a higher power.
On Instagram, she shared an emotional story about her connection to the capsule’s design and reflected on what she believes are signs from the universe confirming her decision to go to space.
“When I was invited to come on this voyage, I looked up the capsule. On the very front of it is the outline in the shape of a feather, and when I saw that, it was like a total confirmation because my mum has always called me feather,” she said.
The 'Teenage Dream' songstress continued: "And so I’m in space training today, and there’s a lot to digest. We’re almost finished with the day, and they showed us the capsule, and we ran simulations in another capsule and tested the noise and what to expect and all these different things, and they reveal the capsule name.
“The capsule’s name is Tortoise. A wave, just the most energetic wave, just shot through my body. And I was like, ‘What? This capsule’s name is Tortoise?'" she said. “My mum calls me two nicknames. Feather and tortoise. What are the chances that I’m going to space on a rocket in a capsule with my symbol, the feather, called Tortoise?”
“There are no coincidences,” Perry added. “And I’m just so grateful for these confirmations and so grateful that I feel like something bigger than me is steering the ship.”
This will be the 11th human flight for Blue Origin’s space program, which began sending passengers - including Bezos himself - to space in 2021.
The company also holds a NASA contract to build a lunar lander for an upcoming Artemis mission aimed at returning astronauts to the Moon.
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