Blue Origin, the private aerospace manufacturer and spaceflight services company founded by Jeff Bezos, successfully launched its latest suborbital mission, NS-26, on August 29, 2024. The historic flight carried six people to space, including a NASA-funded researcher and five space tourists, marking the 26th successful flight of the New Shepard program.
New Shepard NS-26 on the launchpad Image Credit: blue origin
The crew consisted of Rob Ferl, a renowned researcher funded by NASA, and five space enthusiasts: Nicolina Elrick, Eugene Grin, Eiman Jahangir, Karsen Kitchen, and Ephraim Rabin. Karsen Kitchen, a 21-year-old student, made history by becoming the youngest woman to cross the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary of space.
The New Shepard spacecraft lifted off from Blue Origin's Launch Site One in West Texas at 9:00 AM CDT, embarking on an 11-minute journey to the edge of space. The crew experienced several minutes of weightlessness and witnessed breathtaking views of Earth from an altitude of 341,000 feet before coming back for a touchdown in the West Texas dust around 9:19 a.m. EDT (1319 GMT or 8:19 a.m. local time).
The mission was a significant milestone for Blue Origin, demonstrating the capabilities of its reusable suborbital launch system. The New Shepard spacecraft is designed for space tourism, providing passengers with a unique experience of space travel.
NS-26 Crew Image Credit: Blue origin
"We are thrilled to have successfully completed our 26th mission to space," said Bob Smith, CEO of Blue Origin. "This flight marked a significant milestone for our program, and we are honored to have had the opportunity to take these six individuals on this historic journey."
Blue Origin's New Shepard program is a suborbital launch system designed for space tourism. The program's mission is to take passengers to the edge of space, providing them with a unique experience.
The Vehicle
New Shepard is a fully reusable sub-orbital launch vehicle developed for space tourism . The vehicle consists of a booster rocket and a crew capsule, which can be configured to house up to six passengers, cargo, or a combination of both.
The Mission
The New Shepard mission takes passengers on a suborbital trajectory, reaching an altitude of 100 km (62 miles) above Earth. During the 11-minute journey, astronauts experience several minutes of weightlessness and witness life-changing views of Earth. The vehicle is fully autonomous, with no pilots.
Key Features
- Crew Capsule: The crew capsule is pressurized and has room for six people, with among the largest windows to have flown in space.
- BE-3PM Engine: The engine propels the rocket to space and restarts to slow the booster down to just 6 mph (9.7 km/h) for a controlled pinpoint landing on the pad.
- Aft Fins: The aft fins stabilize the vehicle during ascent, steer it back to the landing pad on descent, and guide the rocket through airspeeds over Mach 3.
Safety
New Shepard's development flight test program concluded in 2021 following 16 consecutive successful flight tests, including three successful capsule escape tests. The crew capsule has numerous redundant safety systems, and its crew escape system has been successfully tested three times.
The NS-26 mission was also notable for its scientific payload, which included experiments designed to study the effects of microgravity on various biological systems. Rob Ferl, the NASA-funded researcher on board, conducted experiments to better understand plant growth in space.
Blue Origin's New Shepard program has now flown 26 successful missions, with several more planned for the remainder of the year. The company is also working towards developing its orbital launch vehicle, New Glenn, which is expected to debut in the near future.
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Thank God we are living in the time of Elon Musk! -
"....slow the booster down to just 6 mph (9.7 km/h) for a controlled pinpoint landing on the pad."