Blue Origin’s twenty fourth mission was successful. After its New Shepard rocket took off from West Texas on Tuesday morning, the booster and crew capsule safely separated mid-flight, with each touchdown again on Earth.
Liftoff happens round 25:44 within the livestream and from there, you may see New Shepard propel to a most altitude of about 66 miles, permitting the uncrewed capsule to spend a short while in area. The reusable booster lands upright at 33:00 following the transient journey, and the capsule comes parachuting down after.
Whereas Blue Origin initially deliberate on a December 18th flight, the Jeff Bezos-owned area tourism firm scrubbed the launch attributable to chilly temperatures and “floor points” its groups needed to troubleshoot. The NS-24 mission carried 33 payloads to area, with greater than half from NASA and others from instructional establishments. It additionally had 38,000 postcards from college students around the globe onboard. You possibly can watch a replay of the livestream within the video embedded beneath.
The most recent flight comes over one yr after Blue Origin abruptly ended its NS-23 mission attributable to a booster failure. Following an investigation, the Federal Aviation Administration pinpointed the difficulty as a “structural failure of an engine nozzle attributable to increased than anticipated engine working temperatures.” The FAA required Blue Origin to hold out 21 corrective actions, together with a redesign of sure engine and nozzle elements earlier than it may try one other launch.
