Seventy years after her father’s historic flight, she will cross the last frontier: Laura Shepard Churchley, daughter of the first American in space, Alan Shepard, is among six passengers on Blue Origin’s next flight in early December.
Jeff Bezos’ space company announced this Tuesday (23) its third manned flight, which will take off from west Texas on December 9th.
An American celebrity, one of the hosts of the television show “Good Morning America”, Michael Strahan, was also invited by Blue Origin to make the trip.
There will also be four other passengers who paid to live this experience: entrepreneurs Dylan Taylor and Evan Dick and a father and son, Lane and Cameron Bess.
Blue Origin’s rocket is named New Shepard after Alan Shepard.
“It’s fun to say that an authentic Shepard will fly a New Shepard,” Shepard Churchley said in a video released by Blue Origin.
“I am very proud of my father’s legacy,” he added.
Alan Shepard, who died in 1998, made a 15-minute flight into space on May 5, 1961, 23 days after the historic flight of the Soviet Yuri Gagarin, who was the first human in space.
The daughter won’t be in space much longer than the father, as Blue Origin flights only last about ten minutes in total.
Blue Origin’s last two flights have brought celebrities such as billionaire Bezos himself and actor William Shatner, who played Captain Kirk in the famous series “Star Trek,” into space.
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