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National
Elaine McCallig

Michael Strahan on Blue Origin space trip: ‘It’s unreal, I want to go back’

Good Morning America co-anchor Michael Strahan called today’s Blue Origin trip “unreal” and quipped that he wants “to go back”.

The former New York Giants Hall of Famer was one of the six who blasted off in Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin spacecraft, New Shepard (NS-19), for a ten-minute flight this afternoon.

Strahan and Laura Shepard Churchley, the daughter of Alan Shepard, the first American astronaut to go to space, were “honorary guests” and took part in the trip for free.

They were joined by Space for Humanity founder Dylan Taylor, engineer and investor Evan Dick, venture capitalist Lane Bess and his 23-year-old son Cameron Bess. According to Blue Origin, the Besses are the first parent-child pair to fly to space together.

The crew reached an altitude of 351,225 feet and enjoyed a few minutes of weightlessness before they landed again on the desert floor in Texas.

Speaking after landing back in Texas, Strahan said: “It was surreal… it was unbelievable. It’s hard to even describe it, it’s going to take a little bit to process it but it couldn’t have gone better.”

Strahan had a few important pieces of luggage, including a football which will go to the Pro Football Hall of Fame after the footballer’s trip above the clouds.

But that wasn’t all that Strahan packed for his trip.

He also took his retired Giants jersey, his Hall of Fame and Super Bowl rings, his grandfather’s pocket watch, and bullets from his late father’s military funeral.

He said his mother gave him his grandfather’s watch to get repaired during the Thanksgiving holidays, but instead he opted to delay the repair so he could bring the special memento to space with him.

Shepard Churchley also brought special mementos with her today, including a ring that her father brought to the moon in 1971.

She also brought a tiny part of her father’s Freedom 7 Mercury capsule, which soared in 1961.

Spectators were excited to witness the crew’s mission today:

History was previously made during a Blue Origin mission earlier this year when 90-year-old Star Trek actor William Shatner became the oldest person in space.

If you could go, would you take the trip too?

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