Dimapur, March 14 (EMN): Tech billionaire Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin company on Monday announced that its next spaceflight will have Saturday Night Live (SNL) star Pete Davidson onboard its New Shepard rocket.
Davidson, who played as an astronaut on an SNL sketch "Chad on Mars", will actually go to space for real along with five other crew mates including angel investor Marty Allen, nonprofit founder Sharon and her husband Marc Hagle, entrepreneur Jim Kitchen, and Dr Commercial Space Technologies founder George Nield.
The company said that Davidson is an "honorary guest" on this flight, while the rest of the crew members are paying customers.
#NewShepard mission #NS20 will include Marty Allen, @NBCSNL’s Pete Davidson, @SharonHagle, Marc Hagle, @JimKitchen, and @DrGeorgeNield. Liftoff on March 23 is targeted for 8:30 am CDT / 13:30 UTC from Launch Site One. Read more 🚀: https://t.co/z8jXdnA9n4 pic.twitter.com/a2zIdCf2Mt
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) March 14, 2022
Davidson is the third celebrity guest to join the crew’s ranks after Star Trek star William Shatner and Good Morning America host Michael Strahan.
The typical 11-minute flight will carry the crew members far above the Karman line - an internationally recognised boundary of space that lies 62 miles (100 km) above the Earth's surface.
The flight is scheduled for liftoff at 8:30 am CDT (7 pm IST) on March 23, from Launch Site One in west Texas. This will be will be New Shepard's fourth flight with humans on board and its 20th overall.
Blue Origin made its crewed launch debut last year with Bezos alongside aviation pioneer Wally Funk.