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Blue Origin: Pete Davidson no longer able to join next space flight

The "Saturday Night Live" star was supposed to go to space next week, but that's no longer the plan.
Credit: AP
Comedian Pete Davidson during the first half of an NBA basketball game between the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Knicks, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

WASHINGTON — Pete Davidson's trip to space will have to wait. 

Blue Origin announced Thursday evening that its next flight, originally scheduled for March 23, has been pushed back to March 29 and Davidson "is no longer able to join." 

No reason was given for the mission's delay or why Davidson can't participate any more. 

It had been announced on Monday that the "SNL" star and comedian was supposed to be part of the six-person crew taking off on the 20th flight for Blue Origin, the interstellar rocket company started by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. 

The crew also includes investor Marty Allen, philanthropists Marc and Sharon Hagle, teacher Jim Kitchen and Dr. George Nield. Blue Origin said it will announce in the coming days who will be taking Davidson's spot. 

Davidson, 28, was set to be the latest celebrity to lift off toward the real stars, following "Star Trek" alum William Shatner — the oldest person to reach space at 90 — and famed NFL rusher Michael Strahan last year. Bezos also took a trip in Blue Origin's inaugural flight in July 2021. 

The Blue Origin flights aren't quite out of earth's atmosphere. Instead, the trips take passengers about 65 miles from Earth's surface, right at the edge of "true space." There, those onboard experience about four minutes of weightlessness before returning to the planet.

All six astronauts on the 20th flight will carry a postcard for the "Club for the Future" foundation, which Blue Origin set up to inspire future generations to pursue careers in STEM fields. The postcards are part of the "Postcards to Space" program, which sends messages from students up into space before returning them to their original senders.

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