Blue Origin completed its fourth human spaceflight and 20th overall flight for New Shepard. The astronaut manifest included: Marty Allen, Sharon Hagle, Marc Hagle, Jim Kitchen, Gary Lai, and Dr. George Nield.
“Congratulations to our astronauts on today’s mission above the Kármán Line,” said Phil Joyce, senior vice president of New Shepard for Blue Origin. “We had the honor of safely flying this crew of six – each person with their own story of mentorship and passion for human spaceflight. We’re looking forward to many more flights this year, and we’re grateful to our astronaut customers for their trust in this amazing team.”
Actor and comedian Pete Davidson was originally scheduled to go on this trip but had to cancel his participation when the launch was delayed. In his place was Gary Lai, one of the first 20 employees to join Blue Origin and is currently chief architect, responsible for defining all next generation designs, upgrades, and new products for the New Shepard space tourism program. Lai has been with Blue Origin for 18 years and holds several patents related to the New Shepard rocket’s design, flew in Davidson’s place and was the sole non-paying customer on the flight.
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