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TEXAS — After a couple of delays, including unauthorized people on the launch site, Blue Origin sent up six people on its New Shepard rocket.
What You Need To Know
- The six are part of the NS-38 mission
The six are part of the NS-38 mission, Blue Origin’s crewed mission, which took off at 11:25 a.m. ET from Launch Site One in West Texas, stated the Washington-state company.
All six climbed onboard the R.S.S. First Step spacecraft, and after the launch and stage separation happened, they experienced zero gravity for a couple of minutes before returning to Earth as three parachutes deployed.
But before the launch, there was a hold while security was collecting people who were not authorized to be on the range.
“We are at a hold at just under 3 minutes until launch. We do have an update for you, and that is that there are unauthorized personnel on the range. Our security is currently working to clear that and then we will have NS-38 ready to go across the Karman line,” said Tabitha Lipkin, senior content producer at Blue Origin, during the livestream.
They traveled beyond the Kármán line, the internationally established edge of space at 62 miles/100 kilometers above Earth’s surface.
Just like SpaceX rockets, the New Shepard is designed to land autonomously, and the booster touched down on a landing pad.
Before the stage separation, the rocket booster was going about 2,000 mph/3,218 kph.
Meeting the crew
The crew was made up of Tim Drexler, Linda Edwards, Alain Fernandez, Alberto Gutiérrez, Jim Hendren, and Dr. Laura Stiles, Blue Origin’s director of New Shepard Launch Operations.
Andrew Yaffe was originally going to be part of the launch, but had to back out, according to Blue Origin.
“Blue Origin today announced that one of our NS-38 crew members is no longer able to fly due to illness and will fly on a future mission,” Blue Origin stated on Tuesday.
Once back on the ground, Stiles said through tears that it was an incredible experience to witness the Earth and moon from space.
You can learn more about the crew right here.
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Anthony Leone
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