The American entrepreneur and billionaire Jeff Bezos' company Blue Origin successfully launched the New Shepard tourist rocket into space for the first time in almost two years. There were six passengers on board.
The rocket was sent into space as part of the NS-25 tourist mission. This launch followed a successful uncrewed science mission in December 2023, the rocket's first flight since the September 2022 accident. CNN writes about it.
New Shepard took off at three times the speed of sound. The rocket carried the capsule past the Kármán line, a zone 100 kilometers above the Earth's surface where outer space is believed to begin.
In total, this is Blue Origin's seventh manned space flight. At the peak of the flight, the passengers spent several minutes in weightlessness and saw the Earth from the cabin portholes.
Forever changed. #NS25 pic.twitter.com/g0uXLabDe9
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) May 19, 2024
In particular, aboard the tourist rocket were:
- venture fund co-founder Mason Angel;< /li>
- founder of French craft brewery Brasserie Mont-Blanc Sylvain Chiron;
- software engineer and entrepreneur Kenneth Hess;
- retired accountant Carol Schaller;
- retired US Air Force Captain Ed Dwight, who in 1961 was selected by then-President John F. Kennedy as the first black astronaut candidate in United States history.
< li>aviator Gopi Thothakura;
< blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Liftoff of #NS25 pic.twitter.com/81W4Pfx8xP
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) May 19, 2024
As reported, in December 2023, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin cruise rocket, designed for rapid travel to the boundary between the Earth's atmosphere and space, was successfully launched as part of an unmanned science mission. It was the first flight of the rocket after the accident that occurred in September 2022.