In the end, it was Gary that took Chad's seat to space.
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin completed its fourth crewed flight to the edge of space and back on Thursday, rocketing six new civilian astronauts to experience weightlessness and a life-changing view over the course of a 10-minute flight.
After an extended delay, the New Shepard rocket finally blasted off from the company's west Texas launch facility at 6:57 a.m. PT. A few minutes after launch, the crew capsule separated from the booster and continued on past the Karman Line, which is commonly considered the dividing line between our atmosphere and outer space.
The capsule then came in for a parachute-assisted landing not far from the launchpad at 7:07 a.m.
SNL star and Kim Kardashian boyfriend Pete Davidson was originally scheduled to be on board, but when the mission had to be rescheduled, Blue Origin said the comedian had a conflict and New Shepard chief architect Gary Lai got the seat instead.
Davidson was set to join the ranks of media host Michael Strahan, actor William Shatner and aviation pioneer Wally Funk as the latest celebrity civilian astronauts given a seat on a New Shepard rocket to help build the hype around Bezos' space tourism project.
On March 29, #NewShepard Chief Architect Gary Lai will fly on the vehicle he’s spent 18 years designing, developing, testing, and flying. We can’t wait for Gary—a friend, mentor, and hero to all of us—to become Astronaut Gary Lai. Learn more: https://t.co/6HLHQOlf1I #NS20 pic.twitter.com/r8wze2u4y7
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) March 21, 2022
Instead, Lai flew on the spacecraft he had a significant role in building. He joined Blue Origin in 2004 and was one of the company's first 20 employees.
The NS-20 crew also included investor and former Party America CEO Marty Allen and real estate executive Marc Hagle and wife, Sharon Hagle, who founded SpaceKids Global. Also on board was George Nield, former associate administrator for the Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Commercial Space Transportation, and entrepreneur Jim Kitchen.
For now, Davidson's space ventures will remain confined to the small screen. His doltish SNL character Chad took a turn as a SpaceX astronaut on Mars when Elon Musk hosted the show last year.
One person who might have been happy to see Davidson blasted into space is Kanye West, Kardashian's ex who has been harassing Davidson since he began dating Kardashian.
You can re-watch the live feed of the entire mission below: