Blue Origin plans to launch an upgraded New Shepard spacecraft today, along with a manikin called Mannequin Skywalker. You can watch the action live here.
The new Shepard Mission NS-14 is scheduled for launch at 11:57 a.m.ET (10:57 a.m. CT, which is local time) from Blue Origin’s Launch Site One in west Texas. The livecast is expected to start approximately 30 minutes before departure. You can watch it live below or at the Blue Origin website.
This is the 14th launch of the New Shepard program, which is now in its seventh year of unmanned flight testing. Ultimately, the reusable suborbital launch vehicle will take space tourists, about six per flight, beyond the Kármán Line – the internationally recognized frontier of space.
Peering through the large windows of the capsule, future passengers will have a glorious view, lasting about 11 minutes, of our blue planet at an altitude of 100 km. The New Shepard spacecraft will enter suborbital space, and, without entering orbit, you will return to the surface shortly after launch. The booster makes a vertical landing, while the capsule uses parachutes to make its slow descent.
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However, before this happens, Blue Origin must declare that the capsule is suitable for humans. The company has nearly achieved this, and today’s launch is an important step.
Mannequin Skywalker (a play from Anakin Skywalker Star Wars) has traveled to the suborbital space before, but the manikin should notice some new improvements.
The crew capsule has been modified to enhance the passenger experience, including improved in-vehicle acoustics and temperature control, new crew display panels, speakers with a microphone and a push-to-talk button on each seat. according to to Blue Origin, which is owned and run by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and one of the richest people on earth. The capsule is also equipped with six seats, one of which will be occupied by Mannequin Skywalker.
A major goal of New Shepard Mission NS-14 is to test communications and security alert systems. A successful test today could pave the way for an actual manned flight, not expected until 2022. Blue Origin originally hoped to launch humans to space in 2019.
The price of a ticket for suborbital space is not yet known, with estimates ranging from $ 50,000 to $ 250,000 per seat. S.adly, these adventures in space won’t be immediately accessible to those of us in the 99%.