A professor who has traveled to nearly 200 countries is bringing new meaning to "space: the final frontier." After visiting all 193 countries recognized by the United Nations, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill professor Jim Kitchen is traveling to space as part of Blue Origin's newest crew, WRAL reports.
Kitchen is a professor at UNC's Kenan-Flaglar Business School and a five-time entrepreneur, the news outlet reports. He, along with Saturday Night Live's Pete Davidson, SpaceKids Global founder Sharon Hagle, Tricor International CEO Marc Hagle, Commercial Space Technologies President Dr. George Nield and angel investor Marty Allen will comprise the fourth human flight crew for Blue Origin, founded by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.
Shortly after the announcement on Monday (March 14) morning, Kitchen confirmed the news and his excitement about his galactic trip.
"It's official... I'm going to space with [Blue Origin]!" he wrote in a tweet.
A trip to space has always been a dream for the UNC professor. He spoke to WRAL in March 2021 about the possibility of boarding a rocket to the stars when he was competing for a seat on the Elon Musk's SpaceX Inspiration 4 campaign.
"If I were to be on this flight, this would be akin to me being in the cargo hold of the Wright brothers' first plane," he said at the time. "The first launch at Kitty Hawk."
The crew will launch to space on at 9:30 a.m. ET on March 23.