Pete Davidson Confirmed To Join Next Blue Origin Flight To Space
Pete Davidson is putting “space” between him and the drama surrounding Kanye West and Kim Kardashian. He will leave Earth to fly to space next week, alongside five other personalities.
The Hollywood Reporter said that the “Saturday Night Live” player will be among the crewmembers of the NS-20 mission under the New Shepard program of Blue Origin. The other five members are angel investor Marty Allen, active philanthropists Sharon Hagle and Marc Hagle, entrepreneur Jim Kitchen, and Commercial Space Technologies founder George Nield.
The publication said that Blue Origin has leaned celebrities to “lure public attention to its missions.” As noted, “Star Trek” actor William Shatner and “Good Morning America” host Michael Strahan previously went along for the same ride to space.
The first manned mission under the program featured the space company’s founder and Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos.
The upcoming Blue Origin mission will officially launch from the space company’s spaceport in Texas on March 23. It will be its fourth crewed spaceflight, as well as the 20th liftoff overall for the New Shepard program, hence the name, NS-20.
Space reported that the New Shepard consists of a rocket and capsule, both of which are reusable. With the capsule, Pete Davidson and the rest of the crew will be over 62 miles (100 kilometers) above Earth, and they will get to experience a “few minutes of weightlessness.”
The six personalities will, also, be able to see Earth from space during the mission. It will reportedly last about 11 minutes, covering the liftoff and touchdown.
The same publication, later on, asserted that Pete Davidson appears to be “getting a free ride” to space. This comes after the official press release from Blue Origin, which surfaced on Monday, noted that he will join the mission “alongside five customers.”
It is unclear, however, how much the travel aboard the New Shepard costs for each of the crew members. But, it is said that the company’s main competitor, Virgin Galactic, charges $450,000 for a ride on the VSS Unity space plane, although it has yet to carry paying passengers.
Pete Davidson going to space is no longer surprising to many as this subject has been already in the talks for weeks. Earlier this month, Page Six said that the comedian was “close to signing a deal” with Jeff Bezos to join a Blue Origin flight to space.
A source told the publication that the “Saturday Night Live” player was “excited” about the venture. Although they have not signed a contract yet, at the time, “it looks like it is going to happen” in 2022.
The speculations first emerged earlier in January after witnesses spotted Davidson, alongside Kim Kardashian, at Bezos’s Los Angeles compound. Reports said they had dinner, while it was undisclosed why they had the said engagement.