Good Morning America host Michael Strahan, the daughter of Apollo 14 astronaut Alan Shepard, and four paying customers rode a rocket to the edge of space Saturday, courtesy of Jeff Bezos' aerospace company Blue Origin, CNN Business reports.
According to data from Space.com, the spacecraft launched at 42 seconds past 10 a.m. ET and was airborne for 10 minutes and 13 seconds. Its maximum velocity was 2,244 mph. The crew capsule reached an apogee of 347,580 feet above ground level. Bezos met them on the ground after landing and presented them with astronaut pins.
Strahan and Laura Shepard Churchley both received their trips free of charge, as did William Shatner, who at age 90 took a trip on a Blue Origin rocket in October. "It's hard to even describe it. It's gonna take a little bit to process it," Strahan said in a video shared after his return to Earth.
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The paying customers were investors Dylan Taylor, Evan Dick, and Lane Bess and Bess' 23-year-old son Cameron. The price of their tickets has not been publicly disclosed, but a ticket to accompany Bezos on his flight in July sold at auction for $28 million.
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