Pete Davidson Is Going to Space, Thanks to Jeff Bezos
Pete Davidson is going to space. And no, that's not just a Saturday Night Live sketch; the 28-year-old comedian will be among six astronauts on Blue Origin's 20th mission next week.
The news was confirmed in a press release from Blue Origin, the aerospace company founded by Jeff Bezos. For Blue Origin, traveling to space means traveling just beyond the Kármán line—the boundary between Earth's atmosphere and outer space.
Per Blue Origin, the crew flying on its upcoming flight on March 23 will include Davidson, alongside Party America CEO Marty Allen, real estate mogul Marc Hagle, his wife Sharon Hagle, founder of the SpaceKids Global nonprofit, University of North Carolina professor Jim Kitchen, and president of Commercial Space Technologies Dr. George Nield. This mission is the fourth human flight for Blue Origin's New Shepard program and the 20th flight in its history.
"Each astronaut on board NS-20 will carry a postcard to space on behalf of Blue Origin's foundation, Club for the Future, whose Postcards to Space program gives students access to space on Blue Origin's rockets," the press release reads. The Postcards to Space initiative flies postcards to space and returns them to sender, stamped "Flown to Space," to "inspire future generations to pursue careers in STEM and to help invent the future of life in space."
In July, Bezos himself traveled to space with his brother, Mark Bezos. Bezos was slated to be the first of the "billionaire space tycoons" to leave the Earth himself, until Virgin Galactic's Richard Branson beat him to the punch. On July 11, Branson and three crew members launched into space over New Mexico on the rocket SpaceShipTwo, which Virgin Galactic spent two decades developing.
Davidson, with his girlfriend Kim Kardashian, were guests at a January dinner party at the Los Angeles home of Jeff Bezos and his girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez.
A Davidson source told Page Six when rumors of his trip to space started, "Pete is excited. They haven’t signed a contract yet, but it looks like it’s going to happen. The details are being finalized." The source added, "He got on really well with Jeff when they met."
Pete Davidson's flight to space is set to launch from Texas on March 23 at 8:30 a.m. local time.
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