Winter Park couple to launch with Blue Origin; "SNL" star Pete Davidson drops out
After celebrating their wedding anniversary in 2007 by experiencing weightlessness aboard a Zero Gravity Corp. jet, Sharon and Marc Hagle reserved $200,000 tickets to fly aboard a future Virgin Galactic spacecraft.
Fifteen years later, the Winter Park NASA buffs are set to become the first married couple to fly to space on a commercial vehicle — not with Virgin Galactic, but Blue Origin.
The Hagles' space-tourism dream is scheduled to be finally fulfilled on March 29. That's when Blue Origin’s New Shepard, a rocket-capsule system that lifts passengers 62 miles above the Earth's surface, should take flight from the company's private launch site near Van Horn, Texas.
"I can't even begin to tell you how excited we are," Marc Hagle said.
“We're very honored to be able to do it. And we're having a lot of fun with it. Because there is no one to look back at, and talk to and say, 'How did it go?' And so, we're kind of creating new boundaries here," he said.
![Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket launches carrying passengers Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and space tourism company Blue Origin, brother Mark Bezos, Oliver Daemen and Wally Funk, from its spaceport near Van Horn, on July 20. [AP PHOTO/TONY GUTIERREZ/FILE]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/.dVtBlCOcCJxQO9FA0E4zg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MA--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/florida-today/621246a411df2b440fd56c1fb65d45f5)
Marc Hagle is president and CEO of Tricor International. The Winter Park real-estate firm develops housing, shopping centers, warehouses, medical facilities, drugstores and offices across the country.
Sharon Hagle is founder and CEO of SpaceKids Global. The nonprofit is dedicated to teaching elementary-school children STEAM — science, technology, engineering, art, mathematics — and encouraging them to pursue careers in space exploration.
Blue Origin initially targeted a 9:30 a.m. Wednesday liftoff, but the launch has been postponed. "Saturday Night Live" cast member Pete Davidson, who played Blackguard in "The Suicide Squad," was slated to be the highest-profile passenger — but he will no longer participate.
"Pete Davidson is no longer able to join the NS-20 crew on this mission. We will announce the sixth crew member in the coming days," Blue Origin officials announced Thursday.
Dubbed NS-20, the March 29 flight will mark New Shepard's fourth crewed flight and 20th overall.
Crews aboard the first three human spaceflights were headlined by Amazon-Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos (July), "Star Trek" actor William Shatner (October) and “Good Morning America” co-anchor Michael Strahan (December).
The other future astronauts joining the Hagles aboard New Shepard: Marty Allen, a corporate CEO and angel investor; Jim Kitchen, a University of North Carolina business professor; and George Nield, president of Commercial Space Technologies, LLC.
Live launch coverage begins on BlueOrigin.com one hour before liftoff.
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Flying more than triple the speed of sound, New Shepard's six-person crew is expected to float weightless for several minutes during the 11-minute flight.
Virgin Galactic launched its first crewed flight to space in July from New Mexico, and company founder Richard Branson flew aboard. The company is offering tickets for future flights for $450,000.
The Hagles declined to divulge the costs of their Blue Origin mission.
Susan Hagle said they will first fly to Blue Origin's Astronaut Village, an Airstream-trailer camping center in the West Texas desert, to start pre-launch training procedures.
“We'll have lunch together, and then we'll have a fitting session for our spacesuits —including one for our dog, Saba, that we're taking with us. He's not going to fly, but he's going with us to the Astronaut Village," Marc Hagle said.
"And then they're going to introduce us to the vehicle. They're going to do some simulations of what the flight profile’s going to be, with sound and energy, just so that we're used to it and they won't be a surprise to us," Hagle said.
"They'll introduce us to the capsule, so we understand the seating arrangements and getting in and out. They're very, very well organized in what we're going to do and how we're going to do it," he said.
The Hagles will celebrate their 26th wedding anniversary on April 24.
Space tourism is also taking root in Brevard County. SpaceX launched four private astronauts on Sept. 15 from Kennedy Space Center pad 39A on the Inpsiration4 mission, which was chronicled in a Netflix docuseries.
In December, Space Perspective announced plans to build a future headquarters and manufacturing complex at Space Coast Regional Airport in Titusville, creating about 240 jobs by the end of 2026.
Space Perspective plans to launch 300-foot-diameter high-altitude balloons carrying pressurized "Spaceship Neptune" capsules from Kennedy Space Center, Space Coast Regional Airport and Jacksonville's Cecil Spaceport.
Engineers say the capsules will rise up to 100,000 feet above Earth before descending and splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico.
What's more, Space Florida is working with an undisclosed company to build a $270 million private astronaut training facility near Kennedy Space Center.
Documents show the secretive "Project Beach House" would employ at least 200 people by 2025 with average annual wages of $50,000.
Rick Neale is the South Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or [email protected]. Twitter: @RickNeale1
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Blue Origin’s New Shepard to fly Sharon and Marc Hagle into space
