Blue Origin Returns to Crewed Flights for the First Time Since 2022
The flight, which carried a six-person crew, including 90-year-old former astronaut candidate Ed Dwight, ascended to an altitude of 105 kilometers, offering the passengers a brief experience of weightlessness at the edge of space.
Blue Origin has successfully resumed its crewed suborbital spaceflights with the launch of the New Shepard rocket, marking its first crewed mission since 2022. The flight, which carried a six-person crew, including 90-year-old former astronaut candidate Ed Dwight, ascended to an altitude of 105 kilometers, offering the passengers a brief experience of weightlessness at the edge of space.
Ed Dwight, who was selected in 1961 as America's first Black astronaut candidate, though he never flew to space, finally realized his dream of space travel, becoming the oldest person to reach space. Joining him were Mason Angel, Sylvain Chiron, Kenneth Hess, Gopi Thotakura, and Carol Schaller, who collectively contribute to a diverse range of professions from venture capital to piloting and entrepreneurship.
The mission, known as NS-25, not only marks a significant milestone for Blue Origin but also demonstrates the company’s continued commitment to commercial space travel.
Despite a minor hiccup with one of the parachutes not fully inflating upon re-entry, the mission was deemed a success, with the crew capsule landing safely near the launch site.