Meghana KandraWant to get into space? Get ready to buy Amazon’s Blue Origin Ticket. Blue Origin just released a video asking people to sign up. So they know how to book their seats to travel in the New Shepard. Register yourself at the Blue Origin Website.
Image credits- SpaceNews
New Shepard Rocket
It is a five-story rocket that can carry crew as high as 340,000 feet into the sky. If not as a space traveler, a paying visitor can experience a few minutes of weightlessness. The microgravity and super high altitude view of the earth can be experienced with Blue Origin’s services.
The working system of the capsule is such that when the capsule reaches midair, it separates. Then, the booster returns to land as the crew members descend back.
Test flight
In January Blue Origin was set to conduct a test flight. During their initial launch, the director astronaut said, “There’s going to be a lot of fun ahead in 2021.”
The initial launch, known as NS-4 reached a maximum altitude of 350,827 feet (106, 932 meters). Meaning, it was about 107 kilometers ( 66 miles). Then, the launch happened on April 14th. New Shepard is also a reusable rocket ( like SpaceX booster).
The test flight didn’t carry any humans. Also, the first test flight was names NS-15. Their paying customers will be able to have brief trips to suborbital space and come back to earth soon enough.
As said by the Blue Origin representatives on the occasion of launching test flight,
“During the mission, astronaut operational exercises especially will be conducted on preparation for human spaceflight.”
Furthermore added,
“The primary operations will entail Blue Origin personnel standing in as astronauts entering into the capsule prior to launch. These astronauts will climb the launch tower, get into their seats, buckle their harnesses, and conduct a communications check from their seat with CAPCOM, the capsule Communicator. ”
So far, both launches have been successful. And the details like the number of people to travel, safety alert systems, and other booking details are yet to be known.
Race with SpaceX
Jeff Bezos recently filed a 50-page contract against NASA. Which challenges that Blue Origin is equally capable and deserves to be selected.
As SpaceX’s Elon Musk trolled with a tweet, the competition is getting fierce with time. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos has ambitious goals, so does Tesla’s Elon Musk. Though there isn’t a reply from NASA on the same. With Blue Origin’s success, we are yet to view how NASA will see the situation.