Blue Origin plans to fly an all-female crew to suborbital space within the subsequent 12 months or so, based on a report in The Wall Road Journal.
The information comes courtesy of Lauren Sanchez, the girlfriend of Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos. Sanchez spoke to the Journal for a narrative that was published on Wednesday (Jan. 25) (opens in new tab), revealing that she plans to guide the six-person mission aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital car.
We do not know the identities of the opposite 5 passengers, however Sanchez informed the Journal that they are going to be “girls who’re making a distinction on this planet and who’re impactful and have a message to ship.” (The story is behind a paywall.)
Associated: Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin launches 6 people to space in fourth crewed flight
The launch date is unknown at this level, however Sanchez, a media character and skilled helicopter pilot, mentioned she hopes to fly by early subsequent 12 months.
Blue Origin has launched six crewed suborbital missions thus far, all of them profitable, with the reusable New Shepard, which consists of a first-stage booster and a crew capsule. The primary of those flights, which launched in July 2021, despatched Bezos aloft with three different individuals, together with his brother Mark and aviation pioneer Wally Funk.
The second New Shepard crewed flight, in October 2021, additionally lofted 4 individuals to the ultimate frontier. The next 4 crewed missions, nonetheless, used all six of the car’s seats.
The newest New Shepard passenger flight befell in August 2022. A month later, Blue Origin’s payload-only New Shepard car, the RSS H.G. Wells, suffered a failure during an autonomous research mission, resulting in the lack of the booster. (A unique New Shepard car, RSS First Step, flies the corporate’s tourism missions.)
RSS H.G. Wells’ escape system labored as designed, rocketing the capsule away from hazard; it landed safely beneath parachutes.
New Shepard hasn’t flown, crewed or uncrewed, since that accident, which can nonetheless stay beneath investigation. Blue Origin has not but revealed what brought on the anomaly.
New Shepard flights are temporary, lasting simply 11 minutes or so from liftoff to landing of the capsule. Passengers expertise a couple of minutes of weightlessness and get to see Earth towards the blackness of space.
Mike Wall is the creator of “Out There (opens in new tab)” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a e book in regards to the seek for alien life. Comply with him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in new tab). Comply with us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or Facebook (opens in new tab).
