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Someone Offered to Pay for Kevin Hart’s Trip to Space, and He Still Refused

You literally can’t pay Kevin Hart to give space tourism a try right now: the actor says someone offered him money if he’d fly to space, and he turned it down. It’s not safe enough, he explains.
Kevin Hart wouldn't fly to space for fun even if you paid him 17 photos
Photo: Instagram ' Kevin Hart
Virgin Galactic has its first passenger flight, with Richard Branson as astronaut 001 on itVirgin Galactic has its first passenger flight, with Richard Branson as astronaut 001 on itVirgin Galactic has its first passenger flight, with Richard Branson as astronaut 001 on itVirgin Galactic has its first passenger flight, with Richard Branson as astronaut 001 on itVirgin Galactic has its first passenger flight, with Richard Branson as astronaut 001 on itVirgin Galactic has its first passenger flight, with Richard Branson as astronaut 001 on itVirgin Galactic has its first passenger flight, with Richard Branson as astronaut 001 on itVirgin Galactic has its first passenger flight, with Richard Branson as astronaut 001 on itVirgin Galactic has its first passenger flight, with Richard Branson as astronaut 001 on itBlue Origin's crew is riding in a Rivian electric truck to the launch siteBlue Origin's crew is riding in a Rivian electric truck to the launch siteNew Shepard rocket is getting ready for take offNew Shepard rocket is headed to the edge of spaceNew Shepard rocket is headed to the edge of spaceThe rocket booster has landed back at Blue Origin's Launch Site One in West TexasJeff Bezos, his brother Mark, aviation legend Wally Funk and Oliver Daemen are in the capsule after a safe touchdown
July was the month when the first two commercial flights to the edge of space took place: Sir Richard Branson in the Unity 22 spaceplane from Virgin Galactic, and Jeff Bezos on the New Shepard rocket from Blue Origin. Both aircraft were built with the billionaires’ money (we can’t call them astronauts, the FAA says) and both hope to pave the way for space tourism.

Whereas spots on either aircraft are currently accessible only to the richest wannabe space explorers, it seems that at least one space company is looking to launch celebrities into space – or to the edge of it, more like it. Kevin Hart says that he was approached by one company and offered money to fly with them.

Speaking on his Sirius XM show Straight from the Hart (hat tip to CinemaBlend), Hart doesn’t name the company or the amount they were willing to throw in his general direction. He does say, however, that he would have been training with the team for “like 30, 45 days” for a “60- to 90-minute trip,” so we can safely rule out Blue Origin. Their suborbital flight is only 11 minutes long and training is a matter of a couple of days, since the New Shepard if autonomous.

Hart says the idea was for the company to document the celebrity experience of space travel. He didn’t even consider it because, he explains, space travel is just too damn risky at this moment.

“I said, ‘I would love to know the record of space shuttles that made it versus the ones that didn't. What's the record of success versus non-success?’ And that's my reason. That number's too close. It’s not a crazy upside-down number one way or the other. It’s too f***ing close. And that's that for me,” Hart explains.

Ashton Kutcher also backed out of a scheduled flight for the same reason: he’s a family man and space travel is simply not wise. Like Kutcher, Hart says he’ll reconsider once he’s older and he’s “seen all the flowers bloom.”
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Editor's note: Gallery shows Sir Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos' inaugural flights to the edge of space.

About the author: Elena Gorgan
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Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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