Blue Origin's next crewed mission to space will feature a Captain from Star Trek who will explore the new space world for real.
After flying Jeff Bezos in July, the company will fly its second crewed flight aboard the New Shepard spacecraft. William Shatner, a star passenger and actor best known for his role as Captain James T. Kirk in "Star Trek," will be joining the crew on Oct. 12.
The mission, called NS-18 is also comprised a senior Blue Origin employee as well as two co-founders from space-related technology companies. New Shepard's launch time is 8:30 AM local time, 9:30 AM EDT or 13:30 GMT from the company’s Launch Site One near Van Horn in Texas.
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Live updates: Follow William Shatner’s Blue Origin launch here
Related: Star Trek movies ranked worst-to-best
When is Blue Origin's launch? Can I view it?
New Shepard's second crewed aircraft flight will be broadcast on Tuesday, Oct. 12, at 8 a.m. ET (12 GMT). BlueOrigin.com and Space.com will likely air the launch at this time. Liftoff is scheduled for 9:30 AM EDT (1330 GMT), but this could change depending on weather and technical issues.
New Shepard flights typically last around 11 minutes. Based on the July landing of the Bezos crew, BlueOrigin.com will likely host a live broadcast. Blue Origin will stream the event online, and Space.com may simulcast it. It is likely that the company will share daily mission updates via Twitter @BlueOrigin.
New Shepard spacecraft flying a normal flight will fly above the Krmn line, which international authorities consider the boundary of space. The competition Virgin Galactic doesn't recognize this boundary, leading to a lot of disagreement between the two companies. The rocket will return to its launch site independently and land. A few minutes later, the crew capsule will descend under a parachute.
Blue Origin launches on New Shepard: Who are they?
Image 1 of 3 Actor William Shatner (left), and Blue Origin Vice President for Mission & Flight Operations Audrey Powers will fly on Blue Origin’s New Shepard NS-18 mission on October 12, 2021. (Image credit to Blue Origin) Image 2/3 Chris Boshuizen (left), and Glen de Vries, (right) will be flying on Blue Origin's second crewed mission on October 12. 2021 (Image Credit: Blue Origin). Image 3 of 3 Blue Origin Vice-President of Mission & Flight Operations Audrey Powers. (Image credit to Blue Origin) REPLACE THIS w/ 16x9 images from the crew
New Shepard's second crewed space flight will be four-person, with no pilot because the space capsule is an automatic system. The crew will consist of:
William Shatner (90), an actor most well-known for his roles as Captain James T. Kirk on "Star Trek" or Denny Crane in "Boston Legal" or "The Practice." Shatner will be the oldest person in suborbital space. He beat Wally Funk, an aviator and Mercury 13 participant, during Blue Origin's July flight. John Glenn, a NASA astronaut, was the oldest person to orbit in 1998 at the age of 77. Glenn retired to take part in an aging-focused shuttle mission.
Related: William Shatner will be the oldest person in space.
Audrey Powers (age not disclosed) is Blue Origin's vice president of mission and flight operations. She oversees New Shepard flight operations as well as vehicle maintenance and mission infrastructure. She was a key player in the certification of New Shepard for flight, and she is likely to fly in her official company capacity. Powers was Blue Origin's vice-president of legal compliance and deputy general counsel. She also served as a NASA mission controller for International Space Station. She is a pilot, and she is also the chair of the board for the Commercial Spaceflight Federation.
Chris Boshuizen (age not disclosed) is the co-founder and CEO of Planet Labs, an Earth observation company. He was the NASA Phonesat's co-inventor and space mission architect between 2008 and 2012. He was also the founder of Singularity University, and the first executive director for the Space Generation Advisory Council.
Glen de Vries is a French software company Dassault Systmes' vice chair for life sciences, healthcare. He is reportedly around 49 years old. Dassault purchased Medidata Solutions, a 20-year-old company de Vries had founded in 2019. His software platform has been used in more than 25,000 clinical trials.
What is Blue Origin's mission on the flight?
Blue Origin's New Shepard suborbital aircraft. Blue Origin Image Credit
New Shepard had previously performed 17 flights before Shatner's flight (NS-18). The majority of these previous flights were either uncrewed research flights or tests on payloads. New Shepard's most recent flight was Aug. 26, when it sent a payload-focused mission into suborbital space, along with a demonstration of NASA lunar landing technology.
On July 20, the spacecraft launched its first human spaceflight. It flew Bezos' brother Mark and Mercury 13 pilot Wally Funk, founder Jeff Bezos and Oliver Daemen, an 18-year old student (son of a hedge-fund manager), to suborbital orbit.
New Shepard was named after Alan Shepard (Mercury astronaut, who was the first American in space) It stands at 60 feet (18 meters) high, and suborbital passengers experience "weightlessness" for approximately three minutes. Blue Origin has not yet revealed seat pricing; Virgin Galactic, a competitor, sells seats at $450,000 each.
Infographic: Blue Origin's New Shepard Rocket Works
Spaceflight takes approximately 11 minutes from launch to landing. The rocket is brought back to the launch pad by itself and stabilized aerodynamically using a ring or wedge fins. Crew members descend independently beneath the capsule's parachutist.
New Shepard can only carry four passengers at a stretch, but it can hold six. Blue Origin also cites its "big, beautiful windows" as an advantage to attract the super-rich. The company plans to attract paying companies that want to use microgravity to advance science.
What will Blue Origin astronauts go through?
In July, the crew led by Bezos only received 14 hours training in a matter of days. They were trained to learn basic flight procedures and emergency procedures for the autonomous satellite. They also wore blue jumpsuits with Blue Origin livery, and not spacesuits.
Blue Origin personnel were on the ground to monitor the landing and launch. The crew was seen relaxing in the capsule during the weightless phase, exclaiming about the view and laughing with delight.
Blue Origin was the first to auction seats in 2021. It had terms and conditions for spaceflight crews. Spaceflyers were required to wear flight suits and climb the launch tower (seven flights) in 90 seconds or less. Funk, 82 years old, led the first crew up the stairs.
Blue Origin's New Shepard Spacecraft First Step view during suborbital flight test on April 14, 2021. Blue Origin image credit
The company stresses the view and autonomy of the New Shepard flight, but as with all spaceflights, it is high-risk. During launch and landing, passengers are subject to multiple forces of gravity (or G-loads). In an emergency, they are taught to untrap themselves in under 15 seconds.
Blue Origin employees, all but one of them anonymous, wrote an essay on Sept. 30 with harsh criticisms of the company's culture. They claimed that Blue Origin was hurrying the launch process in order to attract paying passengers to suborbital flights. New Shepard has flown 17 flights since 2015. Blue Origin has successfully recovered the capsule and booster every time, except for one flight in April 2015. This was due to a hydraulics problem on the first flight (NS1), which prevented the booster from landing as scheduled.
Blue Origin uses its RSS First Step (RSS stands for Reusable Space Ship), for crewed flight. RSS H.G. is a different New Shepard capsule. Wells is used for uncrewed scientific flights.
Blue Origin launches a new shepard where?
Blue Origin's launch facilities are known as Launch Site One. It is located in the West Texas desert, approximately 25 miles from Van Horn. Blue Origin severely restricted desert areas around the launch site during its July crewed launch. This includes State Highway 54. It is unlikely that you will be able get any closer unless you are part of the media list, which was extremely limited during the Bezos launch.
Blue Origin has previously released a tour video that shows the facilities. According to the video, all paying customers have the opportunity to view the spacecraft and learn about nearby support facilities before they launch to suborbital orbital space.
Blue Origin when could I launch to the International Space Station?
Blue Origin's New Shepard Spacecraft First Step launches from West Texas on an orbital spaceflight on April 14, 2021. Blue Origin Image Credit
Blue Origin offers a place on its website to reserve your interest in future flights. However, we are not sure when it will launch or what the cost of a seat. The company promised that they would give you early access to pricing information, and tickets once reservations are open.
Blue Origin employees and high-profile passengers will likely fly first before the general public. An undisclosed individual won the $28 million seat auction. However, due to lack availability, Daemen, whose father had a second-place bid for his son, was chosen as a replacement. We don't yet know the identity of that person or if they have rebooked to another flight.
Virgin Galactic flights are now available for $450,000 each and in October, World View, a stratospheric balloon flight provider, announced that it would begin flying customers in 2024 for $50,000 per seat if the schedule is approved. World View is not able to reach space but is high enough within the atmosphere to view the curvature Earth's surface.
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