Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson will actually go to space this month instead of just pretending to on live television. Space tourism venture Blue Origin announced the latest crew to head to the edge of space on the company’s New Shepard rocket, and as rumored, Davidson is the latest celebrity guest to join the crew’s ranks.
This will be Blue Shepard’s fourth time sending a crew of people to space and back. The latest flight, set for March 23rd, will carry a group of six. On board with Davidson will be angel investor and former CEO of Party America Marty Allen, as well as husband and wife duo Marc and Sharon Hagle. Marc Hagle is the CEO of Tricor International, while Sharon Hagle founded a non-profit called SpaceKids Global, which works with Blue Origin’s Club for the Future. Entrepreneur Jim Kitchen is also on the flight, as well as George Nield, the former associate administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Commercial Space Transportation office.
Davidson is an “honorary guest” on this flight, while every other person on the crew is a paying customer, according to Blue Origin. He is now part of a growing list of celebrities that Blue Origin has invited onto its flights in an attempt to drum up buzz for these missions. The company’s most recent celebrity guest was GMA anchor and former football star Michael Strahan, preceded by Star Trek actor William Shatner. Blue Origin’s first crewed mission famously flew founder Jeff Bezos and legendary female aviator Wally Funk.
To get its passengers to space, Blue Origin launches crews inside a capsule located on top of the company’s New Shepard rocket. The vehicle ignites its engine and carries the crew up to an altitude higher than 60 miles above the Earth, where they experience a few minutes of weightlessness. The capsule eventually separates from the rocket, and both pieces fall back to Earth. While the capsule lands under parachutes, the rocket uses its engine to land upright on a landing pad.
Pete Davidson got a taste of playing an astronaut on SNL in May of 2021 when SpaceX CEO Elon Musk hosted the show. Davidson played his recurring bumbling character called Chad, who goes to Mars on a SpaceX mission. Now, Davidson will be flying with Musk’s biggest rival instead.
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