“Good Morning America” co-host Michael Strahan at the 90th Academy Awards in March 2018. Photo: Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin announced Tuesday it will send former NFL player and “Good Morning America” co-host Michael Strahan to space along with another honorary guest and four paying customers during an upcoming flight.
Why it matters: The mission, set for Dec. 9, will add the list of celebrities Blue Origin has flown into suborbital space in high-profile launches, coming just weeks after the company carried actor William Shatner and three other astronauts during its second human mission.
The big picture: Laura Shepard Churchley, the eldest daughter of Alan Shepard — the first American and second human to fly to space — will the second honorary passenger aboard the December flight.
- The four paying customers include space industry executive and philanthropist Dylan Taylor, investor Evan Dick, Bess Ventures founder Lane Bess and Cameron Bess, Blue Origin said.
What they're saying: Strahan, who played for the New York Giants for 15 years, announced that he would a passenger on "GMA" on Tuesday.
- "I'm going to space!" Strahan said before introducing a segment on his preparations for the trip, which included taking measurements for his flight suit and testing out a flight seat.
- "This mission furthers the company’s vision of millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth," Blue Origin said in a statement.
The big picture: It will be the third human flight for Blue Origin's reusable suborbital rocket system, New Shepard, this year and will be the first time the craft has carried six astronauts in one flight.
- The mission will occur toward the end of a historic year of commercial space launches, including SpaceX's all-civilian Inspiration 4 mission and billionaire Richard Branson's trip on Virgin Galactic's Unity space plane.
Go deeper: Blue Origin announces plan to develop commercial space station