Blue Origin launches 6 passengers to the edge of outer space, including 'Good Morning America' anchor Michael Strahan and the daughter of the first American to fly to space
- Blue Origin launched 6 passengers to the edge of space on the company's New Shepard rocket.
- TV celebrity Michael Strahan and the eldest daughter of the first American to fly to space were among the passengers.
Jeff Bezos' rocket company, Blue Origin, launched ABC's "Good Morning America" co-anchor Michael Strahan and five other passengers to the edge of outer space on Saturday in its third successful human flight.
Among the passengers making the suborbital flight was Laura Shepard Churchley, the eldest daughter of the US astronaut Alan Shepard. The company's New Shepard rocket is named after Shepard, the first American to fly to space and the fifth person to walk on the moon.
The four other passengers were paying customers: the space-industry executive and philanthropist Dylan Taylor, the investor Evan Dick, Bess Ventures founder Lane Bess, and the content creator Cameron Bess.
Lane and Cameron Bess were the first parent-child duo to fly in space, Blue Origin said.
The New Shepard rocket took off from Launch Site One, situated on a parcel of land in West Texas owned by Bezos. The six space tourists experienced a few minutes of weightlessness 62 miles above Earth, widely considered the edge of space, before floating back to Earth in a pressurized capsule that detaches from the rocket.
"And, capsule touchdown! Welcome back to Earth, crew of #NS19. Laura, Michael, Evan, Dylan, Cameron, and Lane," Blue Origin tweeted as the passengers made their safe return.
"What an amazing mission from Launch Site One. Congrats to all of Team Blue on executing and supporting today's flight," the company also tweeted.
Blue Origin has not commented on the price of tickets for its latest launch. A seat on New Shepard for the company's first human flight brought in $28 million in an auction in June.
When the latest passenger roster was announced, Shepard Churchley quipped in a Blue Origin Twitter video that "an original Shepard will fly on the New Shepard."
Strahan, who was also a former NFL football star, said in a "GMA" clip posted on Twitter that he said yes "without hesitation" when Blue Origin approached him.
A previous flight carried the "Star Trek" actor William Shatner and three other passengers. The passengers on the company's first human spaceflight consisted of Bezos, his brother, the 82-year-old aviator Wally Funk, and Oliver Daemen, a Dutch teen.