Michael Strahan is heading to space. On Tuesday, the Good Morning America co-host and NFL legend announced that he will fly to space on Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin on its next flight, which will be Dec. 9. It will be the New Shepard rocket’s third human flight this year and marks the first with a full astronaut manifest of six crew members in the capsule. Liftoff is set to take place at 9 a.m. CT on Dec. 9 at the “Launch Site One” facility in the West Texas desert.
When Strahan was invited by Blue Origin to be a crew member he did was 100% on board. “I want to go to space,” he said. “I think being there at the first launch, it really was mind-blowing.” Strahan was in Texas in July for Blue Origin’s first human launch. One of the reasons Strahan wants to travel on Blue Origin is the opportunity to be part of space exploration.
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“I believe that this is the way of being innovative, creative, pioneers in aviation, now space travel,” Strahan said. “And it’s going to take a while but I do believe that it will bring a lot of technological breakthroughs and also innovations to us here on Earth, and I just want to be a part of it.”
Joining Strahan on the mission will be Laura Shepard Churchley, the eldest daughter of Alan Shepard, who is the first American to fly to space and the namesake of New Shepard on the space flight. They will also be joined by Space industry executive and philanthropist Dylan Taylor, investor Evan Dick, and Bess Ventures founder Lane Bess and his child, Cameron. Lane and Cameron will be the first parent-child pair to fly in space.
“To see the excitement to do this, to come together, you really feel like you’re part of a great team,” Strahan added. Strahan began preparing for the mission two weeks ago. He has spoken to his fellow crew members via Zoom and will meet in Texas soon when they will train and undergo safety briefings. Strahan has accomplished a lot over the years, winning a Super Bowl as a member of the New York Giants and being inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame along with hosting a top morning show. Flying in space will be near the top of his list of accomplishments.
