Blue Origin has reportedly revealed that one of its employees, Gary Lai, will take Pete Davidson’s place on an upcoming space voyage, only days after the comedian dropped out for unknown reasons.
Blue Origin’s “New Shepard” shuttle program’s lead architect will be the sixth crew member on the March 29 trip, the company’s 20th.
In a statement announcing the move, Blue Origin noted, “Gary Lai is best known as the architect of the New Shepard system, including managing the team responsible for the design and development of many of the key safety systems aboard the Crew Capsule.”
Investor Marty Allen, SpaceKids Global founder Sharon Hagle, her husband and Tricor International CEO Mark Hagle, entrepreneur Jim Kitchen, and Commercial Space Technologies President George Nield will all join Lai on the crew.
Lai is involved in “product development, strategic planning, and business development for all Blue Origin product lines, including the New Glenn orbital launch vehicle, rocket engine projects, and Blue Moon,” according to Blue Origin.
Pete Davidson and Blue Origin have yet to clarify publicly why he is no longer a member of the mission. The company of billionaire Jeff Bezos said that the launch would be delayed by six days at the same time that the comedian would no longer be a part of it.
