American comedian Pete Davidson, who has been making headlines since his relationship with reality TV star Kim Kardashian came to light, will take off next week for a few minutes in space aboard a rocket from Blue Origin, the company announced on Monday.
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For Jeff Bezos’ space company, this will be the fourth manned flight — that is, with humans on board. It will take off like the previous ones from West Texas.
Invited by Blue Origin, Pete Davidson will be accompanied by five other passengers, including businessmen, who paid an undisclosed price for the trip.
The flight, scheduled for 8:30 a.m. local time (1:30 p.m. GMT) on March 23, will only last about ten minutes in total.
Pete Davidson, 28, is best known for being part of the cult NBC show Saturday Night Live.
Recently, he has also been the target of the wrath of Kanye West, ex-husband of Kim Kardashian. The divorce of these two stars was officially pronounced at the beginning of March.
Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket lifts off vertically and, at an altitude of about 75 km, the capsule separates from the launcher, continuing its trajectory until it reaches a height of more than 100 km — the Karman line, which marks the beginning of space according to the international convention.
Passengers can then detach themselves from their seats, float for a few moments in weightlessness and admire the curvature of the Earth through large portholes.
The capsule then begins a free fall to return to Earth, slowed down by parachutes, then retrorockets.
Jeff Bezos himself had participated in the first flight of New Shepard. Since then, the machine has also carried the actor playing the iconic Captain Kirk of the Star Trek series, William Shatner, or Laura Shepard Churchley, the daughter of the first American to go into space.