Blue Origin teams up with Shaq to send kids' postcards to space on New Shepard

shaquille o'neal spreading his hands with a smile, beside a table with three chicken sandwiches
Shaquille O'Neal, best known for being a four-time champion with the National Basketball Association (NBA), is setting his sights to space with his company, Big Chicken. (Image credit: Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Carnival Cruise Line)

The latest random act of Shaqness is going to space.

Shaquille O'Neal, the retired four-time champion center with the National Basketball Association, plans to align his chain restaurant company with suborbital launching company Blue Origin

O'Neal-owned Big Chicken will work with Blue's children-focused nonprofit, Club for the Future, to launch "new community outreach programs" at the chain's restaurants. Big Chicken will also participate in the Postcards to Space program that sends drawings beyond Earth's atmosphere, the company said in a release Thursday (Feb. 10).

Blue Origin sends tourists and payloads on brief suborbital space journeys of a few minutes, but hasn't flown in five months following an uncrewed anomaly with its New Shepard system on Sept. 12, 2022. The company has said nothing about how the investigation is going.

Related: Failure of Blue Origin's New Shepard a reminder that spaceflight is still hard

Big Chicken has locations in 10 states and aboard Carnival Cruise liners; it also ships food nationwide, according to its website. The company is planning to expand to 200 U.S. locations in the coming years.

"Living and working in space for the benefit of Earth should be delicious," Michael Edmonds, a senior vice-president at Blue Origin and president of Club for the Future, said in the Big Chicken statement.

"Shaq's Big Chicken and Club for the Future will fuel students' appetites and minds as they pursue careers in STEM — all while delivering some of Earth's tastiest foods to space," added Edmonds.

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At a rumored seven feet (2.1 meters) in height, it's unlikely that Shaq will join any New Shepard crew as the height requirement technically tops off at 6 feet, 4 inches (1.93 m). That said, New Shepard was able to fit in "Good Morning America" co-anchor Michael Strahan, who towers at 6 feet, 5 inches (1.95 m), during a December 2021 jaunt. (Passengers wear no spacesuits during missions.)

O'Neal came from a difficult childhood and has credited the Boys & Girls Club in his hometown of Newark for giving him "something to do" to keep him off the streets, whether it be shooting hoops or doing homework, according to a Parade article published in February 2000 available on Archive.org.

"I'm proud to team up with Blue Origin to help inspire the next generation," O'Neal said in the release. "This first-of-its-kind partnership is a game changer and I'm excited to take the chicken sandwich game to a whole new level."

Shaquille O'Neal, representing the U.S. team, in mid-air while playing basketball at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. He is widely regarded as one of the best basketball players of all time. (Image credit: Wally McNamee/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

O'Neal, who received his bachelor of arts from Louisiana State University in 2000 after delaying his studies for basketball, is known for controversial comments in 2017 where he declared the Earth was flat. He confirmed his position in a 2022 appearance on Australia's "The Kyle & Jackie O Show", according to People Magazine.

He has also been a supporter of cryptocurrencies, which have been criticized by numerous people for high price volatility and for benefiting only a select few investors, typically those that have substantial money already to put in the market.

Nevertheless, Shaq is best known outside of basketball for his charitable giving, and has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to charities and volunteer organizations. The former sports star and television personality is even known to go out of his way to help random strangers in need, according to People.

Elizabeth Howell is the co-author of "Why Am I Taller?" (ECW Press, 2022; with Canadian astronaut Dave Williams), a book about space medicine. Follow her on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.

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Elizabeth Howell
Staff Writer, Spaceflight

Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022 covering diversity, education and gaming as well. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years before joining full-time. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House and Office of the Vice-President of the United States, an exclusive conversation with aspiring space tourist (and NSYNC bassist) Lance Bass, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, "Why Am I Taller?", is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, a Bachelor of Journalism from Canada's Carleton University and a Bachelor of History from Canada's Athabasca University. Elizabeth is also a post-secondary instructor in communications and science at several institutions since 2015; her experience includes developing and teaching an astronomy course at Canada's Algonquin College (with Indigenous content as well) to more than 1,000 students since 2020. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday. Mastodon: https://qoto.org/@howellspace