Good Morning America co-host and former New York Giants great Michael Strahan, 50, is the next celebrity to get launched into space courtesy of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket.
Blue Origin is Bezos’ space tourism company, which recently made headlines when it took Star Trek actor William Shatner up for a ride.
Naturally, Strahan broke the news on GMA.
“I want to go to space,” Strahan said. “I think being there at the first launch, it really was mind-blowing.”
Strahan is sharing the rocket with Laura Shepard Churchley, the daughter of the late Alan Shepard – the first American in space. The shuttle will also carry four paying customers. Blue Origin hasn’t publicly disclosed the price of tickets, so if you have to ask, it’s probably out of your price range.
On Dec. 9, Strahan and company will board a Blue Origin rocket and take a ten minute flight into the atmosphere. They’ll be able to see the earth’s curve and experience around three minutes of weightlessness.
“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.”
Strahan started training about two weeks ago, when he tested out a seat and got measured for his space suit.
“To see the excitement to do this, to come together, you really feel like you’re part of a great team,” said Strahan.
Strahan will reportedly get a stipend for being a crew member on the trip, but he said he’ll donate his fee to The Boys & Girls Club.
This is the third Blue Origin flight. Bezos and his brother Mark were on the first flight and Shatner was on the second.