Blue Origin plans to send a crew consisting exclusively of women on a suborbital space journey. This is reported by The Wall Street Journal, referring to the words of Lauren Sanchez, a friend of Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos. She also announced that she would lead a six-person mission aboard the New Shepard suborbital rocket. The names of the other five passengers are not disclosed, but Sanchez hints that these are “influential women changing the world”.
The launch date remains confidential. But Lauren Sanchez, who was both a media personality and a qualified helicopter pilot, said she hoped to visit the border with space early next year.
To date, Blue Origin has launched six successful suborbital missions with a crew of space tourists aboard the New Shepard rocket, consisting of a first-stage launch vehicle and a human launch capsule. The first of these flights, launched in July 2021, sent Bezos to an altitude of 120 km with three other people, including his brother Mark and aviation pioneer Wally Funk.
Temporary suspension of New Shepard flights
The last passenger flight of New Shepard took place in August 2022. A month later, the Blue Origin New Shepard RSS HG Wells payload-only vehicle crashed during an autonomous research mission, resulting in the loss of the accelerator. Fortunately, the evacuation system worked according to plan, throwing the capsule away from danger, and landed safely under deployed parachutes. After the incident, New Shepard has not yet taken off, because after the accident, an investigation is still underway to find out what caused the anomaly.
New Shepard’s flights are short and last approximately 11 minutes from launch to capsule landing. At peak altitude, passengers find themselves in weightlessness for several minutes and can see the curve of the Earth against the background of the impenetrable darkness of space. For some, this journey remains unforgettable, while for others it causes terrible emotions.
Earlier, we reported on how the Star Trek star made fun of a colleague who used the services of Blue Origin.
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