Earlier this month, Pete Davidson signed a contract to head into space with Jeff Bezos and his Blue Origin space crew.
Unfortunately, the “Saturday Night Live” comedian ended up backing out of the trip for undisclosed reasons. On Monday, Blue Origin finally announced who is taking the trip.
Pete Davidson Almost Went Into Space!
#NewShepard mission #NS20 will include Marty Allen, @NBCSNL’s Pete Davidson, @SharonHagle, Marc Hagle, @JimKitchen, and @DrGeorgeNield. Liftoff on March 23 is targeted for 8:30 am CDT / 13:30 UTC from Launch Site One. Read more 🚀: https://t.co/z8jXdnA9n4 pic.twitter.com/a2zIdCf2Mt
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) March 14, 2022
On March 14, the Blue Origin Twitter account announced the news that Pete was heading into space. They tweeted, “#NewShepard mission #NS20 will include Marty Allen, @NBCSNL’s Pete Davidson, @SharonHagle, Marc Hagle, @JimKitchen, and @DrGeorgeNield. Liftoff on March 23 is targeted for 8:30 am CDT / 13:30 UTC from Launch Site One.”
The upcoming NS-20 flight on March 23 was said to include Pete Davidson, Marty Allen, husband and wife duo Sharon and Marc Hagle, Jim Kitchen, and Dr. George Nield. A statement on the website confirmed that this is the fourth human space flight for their New Shepard program and the 20th in its history.
Jim Kitchen commented on the Twitter post, saying, “I am truly honored to be a part of this mission!”
Each member of the crew is going to be given a postcard to space on behalf of their foundation, Club for the Future. Their Postcards to Space program gives students access to space on Blue Origin’s rockets. The aim of the organization is to inspire students to pursue careers in the STEM field.
Blue Origin Finally Announces Replacement For Pete Davidson!
Blue Origin’s 20th flight of New Shepard has shifted to Tuesday, March 29. Pete Davidson is no longer able to join the NS-20 crew on this mission. We will announce the sixth crew member in the coming days.
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) March 18, 2022
On March 18, Blue Origin revealed that Pete Davidson could no longer join the flight. The company posted a statement to Twitter that read, “Blue Origin’s 20th flight of New Shepard has shifted to Tuesday, March 29. Pete Davidson is no longer able to join the NS-20 crew on this mission. We will announce the sixth crew member in the coming days.”
Pete Davidson has yet to reveal why he couldn’t make the trip. Many fans suspect that it has something to do with his busy filming schedule, but nothing has been confirmed.
A few days later, Blue Origin revealed that they were going to replace Pete Davidson with one of their own employees, Gary Lai.
Blue Origin Replaces Pete Davidson With One Of Their Own Employees!
On March 29, #NewShepard Chief Architect Gary Lai will fly on the vehicle he’s spent 18 years designing, developing, testing, and flying. We can’t wait for Gary—a friend, mentor, and hero to all of us—to become Astronaut Gary Lai. Learn more: https://t.co/6HLHQOlf1I #NS20 pic.twitter.com/r8wze2u4y7
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) March 21, 2022
Although fans suspected that they were going to replace Pete with another celebrity guest, Blue Origin surprised fans when they announced that Gary Lai, the person who has been designing the rocket for 18 years, would finally be able to experience the fruits of his efforts and take a trip on the shuttle that he helped build.
In a statement on Twitter, the company announced, “On March 29, #NewShepard Chief Architect Gary Lai will fly on the vehicle he’s spent 18 years designing, developing, testing, and flying. We can’t wait for Gary—a friend, mentor, and hero to all of us—to become Astronaut Gary Lai.”
However, many fans took issue with the way that Blue Origin kept referring to their crew members as “Astronauts.”
“Just so everyone’s clear, you aren’t an astronaut when you fly to the mere edge and then fall back down,” one user wrote.
“How can you call them an astronaut when they don’t even go to space?” another asked. “Your rocket is suborbital.”
“A little jump to 80 km,” another commented. “This is a pleasure flight! They are not Astronauts!” Another user corrected them: “100 km.”
Still, there were some who congratulated Gary Lai on getting an opportunity to take the trip.
“Every aerospace engineer’s dream is to fly on the vehicles they design and build… at Blue they’re making that dream into a reality, and that’s simply Amazing!” one user wrote. “Ad Astra Gary Lai.”
