Blue Origin's New Shepard makes record 6th launch to fly NASA science, student art to space
By
Chelsea Gohd
Published Dec 11, 2019 4:01 PM EST
A Blue Origin, the private spaceflight company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos,
launched NASA experiments, student art projects and thousands of
postcards from kids on a suborbital trip to space today (Dec. 11).
The company's reusable New Shepard spacecraft and rocket launched the NS-12 mission today after a 24-hour
delay due to bad weather. Liftoff today occurred at 12:53 p.m. EST
(1753 GMT) from Blue Origin's West Texas launch site.
"Welcome
back, New Shepard," Ariane Cornell, Blue Origin's director of astronaut
and orbital sales, said during launch commentary. "A beautiful launch
to space and back."
Blue Origin originally aimed to launch New Shepard at 10 a.m. EST (1300 GMT) today, but pushed the launch back repeatedly due to heavy fog near the launch site. The company also briefly paused the countdown several times for final checks, including one just 20 seconds before liftoff. But the rocket ultimately liftoff off, reaching a maximum altitude of 343,061 feet (104,564 meters). That's about 65 miles (105 kilometers).
A Blue Origin New Shepard rocket launches the Reusable Space Ship H.G. Wells on its record 6th flight to suborbital space from the company's West Texas launch site on Dec. 11, 2019. (Image credit: Blue Origin)
This was the rocket's first flight to space in seven months. It last launched in May,
when it carried 38 science experiments to space. Today's launch also
marks a sixth spaceflight for this vehicle, making it Blue Origin's
most-flown booster and space capsule. The previous record was five
flights, the company said.
New Shepard is carried a number of science experiments to suborbital space on the NS-12 flight. Among them were OSCAR, a NASA investigation, named after Oscar, the famously grumpy "Sesame Street" character, that will explore recycling in space. The spacecraft is also holding a weightlessness experiment designed by students from Columbia University and a NASA investigation to examine how gene expression changes for plants in space.
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News / Astronomy
Blue Origin's New Shepard makes record 6th launch to fly NASA science, student art to space
By Chelsea Gohd
Published Dec 11, 2019 4:01 PM EST
Partner Content
A Blue Origin, the private spaceflight company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, launched NASA experiments, student art projects and thousands of postcards from kids on a suborbital trip to space today (Dec. 11).
The company's reusable New Shepard spacecraft and rocket launched the NS-12 mission today after a 24-hour delay due to bad weather. Liftoff today occurred at 12:53 p.m. EST (1753 GMT) from Blue Origin's West Texas launch site.
"Welcome back, New Shepard," Ariane Cornell, Blue Origin's director of astronaut and orbital sales, said during launch commentary. "A beautiful launch to space and back."
Blue Origin originally aimed to launch New Shepard at 10 a.m. EST (1300 GMT) today, but pushed the launch back repeatedly due to heavy fog near the launch site. The company also briefly paused the countdown several times for final checks, including one just 20 seconds before liftoff. But the rocket ultimately liftoff off, reaching a maximum altitude of 343,061 feet (104,564 meters). That's about 65 miles (105 kilometers).
A Blue Origin New Shepard rocket launches the Reusable Space Ship H.G. Wells on its record 6th flight to suborbital space from the company's West Texas launch site on Dec. 11, 2019. (Image credit: Blue Origin)
This was the rocket's first flight to space in seven months. It last launched in May, when it carried 38 science experiments to space. Today's launch also marks a sixth spaceflight for this vehicle, making it Blue Origin's most-flown booster and space capsule. The previous record was five flights, the company said.
New Shepard is carried a number of science experiments to suborbital space on the NS-12 flight. Among them were OSCAR, a NASA investigation, named after Oscar, the famously grumpy "Sesame Street" character, that will explore recycling in space. The spacecraft is also holding a weightlessness experiment designed by students from Columbia University and a NASA investigation to examine how gene expression changes for plants in space.
Click here to continue reading on SPACE.com.
Report a Typo