Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin taps SNL's Pete Davidson as next spaceflight passenger
The mission is Blue Origin's fourth human spaceflight for its New Shepard program and the 20th in its history
Former NASA astronaut Clayton Anderson weighs in on Russia threatening to abandon American astronaut Mark Vande Hei who is set to land in Kazakhstan in the upcoming weeks with two Russian cosmonauts.
Saturday Night Live's Pete Davidson is headed to suborbital space as part of Blue Origin's next human spaceflight on March 23.
Pete Davidson is headed to suborbital space as part of Blue Origin's next passenger flight on March 23. (Getty / Getty Images)
Davidson, 28, joined the cast of SNL in 2014. In 2020, he co-wrote and starred in the semi-autobiographical film "The King of Staten Island," which earned a nomination for The Comedy Movie Star of 2020 at the 46th People’s Choice Awards. Pete also appeared in the 2021 film "The Suicide Squad" directed by James Gunn.
Davidson will be joined on the upcoming flight by angel investor and former Party America CEO Marty Allen; SpaceKids Global founder Sharon Hagle and her husband, Tricor International CEO Marc Hagle; teacher, entrepreneur and world explorer Jim Kitchen; and Commercial Space Technologies president and former Federal Aviation Administration Office of Commercial Space Transportation associate administrator Dr. George Nield.
Pete Davidson joined the cast of SNL in 2014. (Blue Origin)
Angel investor and former Party America CEO Marty Allen. (Blue Origin)
SpaceKids Global founder Sharon Hagle (Blue Origin)
Tricor International CEO Marc Hagle (Blue Origin)
Teacher, entrepreneur and world explorer Jim Kitchen (Blue Origin)
Commercial Space Technologies president and former Federal Aviation Administration Office of Commercial Space Transportation associate administrator Dr. George Nield (Blue Origin)
The mission will mark Blue Origin's fourth human spaceflight for its New Shepard program and the 20th in its history. Each NS-20 crew member will carry a postcard to space on behalf of Blue Origin’s foundation, Club for the Future, which aims to inspire future generations to pursue careers in STEM for the benefit of Earth.
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Blue Origin was founded by Amazon founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos, who took part in the aerospace company's first human spaceflight in July. Star Trek veteran William Shatner became the oldest person to reach space after flying with Blue Origin's NS-18 flight in October. Following his flight, the 90-year-old actor said space was "unlike anything I've ever seen." Meanwhile, "Good Morning America" anchor and former NFL player Michael Strahan flew on Blue Origin's NS-19 flight in December.
New Shepard carries crew members above the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary of space, where they experience several minutes of weightlessness before making their descent back to Earth.
An earlier crew included, from left, Mark Bezos, Jeff Bezos, Oliver Daemen and Wally Funk. (Blue Origin via AP)
William Shatner, second from left, joined fellow crew members, from left, Chris Boshuizen, Audrey Powers and Glen de Vries. (Blue Origin via AP)
This crew included, from left: Dylan Taylor, Lane Bess, Cameron Bess, Laura Shepard Churchley, Michael Strahan and Evan Dick. (Blue Origin via AP)
Blue Origin's NS-20 mission is targeting an 8:30 a.m. local time liftoff from the company's Launch Site One in West Texas.