Blue Origin, the US aerospace company launched its New Shepard sub-orbital rocket and crew capsule in Texas today. The company is owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. This was the 8th launch from Blue origin since the company was established. The launch was successful and the space tourism company had things going their way. The rocket reached a maximum velocity of 2200 MPH as it made its way into the cloudless sky. The rocket gave a lift to its capsule and delivered it to the edge of space. The plans were initially delayed due to Thunderstorms on Sunday but later the rocket was launched from its West Texas test site. The New Shepard 2.0 is still in the testing phases and it is being pushed harder with every test mission.
Blue Origin is working to deliver a rocket which can give people lift into space. The process will be speedy and safe accompanied by a phase of weightlessness and descent. Following on the mission, everything went perfectly from the very start. The liftoff was rather smooth followed by a smooth touchdown. When a rocket launches, the altitude graph initially fills up slowly with sudden spikes as rocket accelerates upwards. After crossing the Karmann Line, the main engine is cut off indicating the starting of space. This is the phase where anyone inside will start feeling the weightlessness for about a minute. The company tweeted that, the occupant “Mannequin Skywalker” was inside the rocket. “He’s a little sensitive about being called a ‘dummy’, as he will be conducting astronaut telemetry and science studies – a very important job!”
Compared to the Falcon 9s, New Shepard can control its thrust more efficiently which allows it for a controlled landing. On the other hand, Falcon 9 lands using powerful thrust which is a threat in itself. The team has to be very careful with the landing of the Falcon 9. The new shepard 2.0 can carry up to 6 passengers in space for tourism and other purposes. The passengers can have a beautiful look into space through the windows in the space capsule.
