Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Strahan to join Blue Origin's spaceflight Dec. 9

Michael Strahan’s next journey is out of this world.

The Pro Football Hall of Famer and Good Morning America co-anchor will be on the next Blue Origin spaceflight scheduled for Dec. 9, he announced on the show Tuesday.

Strahan, 50, is one of six crew members taking a ride in Blue Origin’s suborbital launch vehicle “New Shepard.” Among them is Laura Shepard Churchley, the eldest daughter of pioneering astronaut Alan Shepard, who was the first American to fly into space and for whom Blue Origin’s commercial spacecraft is named after.

Blue Origin is a privately funded aerospace manufacturer founded by Amazon executive chairman Jeff Bezos.

“I believe that this is the way of being innovative, creative, pioneers in aviation, now space travel,” Strahan said on GMA. “And it’s going to take a while, but I do believe that it will bring a lot of technological breakthroughs and also innovations to us here on Earth, and I just want to be a part of it.”

This will be the third Blue Origin flight this year. The company launched its first human flight this past July, which Strahan covered for GMA.

Strahan spent all 15 seasons of his NFL career with the New York Giants, winning Super Bowl XLII and AP Defensive Player of the Year after breaking the single-season sack record in 2001. After retiring in 2007, Strahan was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2014. Strahan is currently sixth on the all-time sack list with 141.5 sacks.

Liftoff is currently targeted for Dec. 9 at 9 a.m. CT from Launch Site One in West Texas.

JUST IN: @michaelstrahan is going out of this world – literally! – and will be flying on @BlueOrigin’s #NewShepard rocket on December 9! https://t.co/zubchTcMg9 pic.twitter.com/mwVqRQ7HAB

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