{"id":17402,"date":"2022-03-31T01:44:48","date_gmt":"2022-03-30T17:44:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/blue-origins-suborbital-space-trip-brings-the-final-frontier-down-to-earth-how-to-watch-the-launch\/"},"modified":"2022-03-31T01:44:48","modified_gmt":"2022-03-30T17:44:48","slug":"blue-origins-suborbital-space-trip-brings-the-final-frontier-down-to-earth-how-to-watch-the-launch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/blue-origins-suborbital-space-trip-brings-the-final-frontier-down-to-earth-how-to-watch-the-launch\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Origin\u2019s suborbital space trip brings the final frontier down to earth: How to watch the launch"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full-width\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"630\" height=\"420\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/220330-crewcapsule-630x420.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-687080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/220330-crewcapsule-630x420.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/220330-crewcapsule-1260x840.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/220330-crewcapsule-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/220330-crewcapsule-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/220330-crewcapsule-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption>The crew for Blue Origin\u2019s next space mission huddles in advance of their launch on a New Shepard suborbital spaceship. From left: Gary Lai, George Nield, Jim Kitchen, Marty Allen, Sharon Hagle and Marc Hagle. (Blue Origin Photo) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>When Jeff Bezos\u2019 Blue Origin space venture sends its next crew on a suborbital ride to space, as early as Thursday, there won\u2019t be any TV celebrities on board. And maybe that\u2019s not such a bad thing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m personally seeing more and more people I know flying on each flight \u2026 and that\u2019s more exciting to me than celebrity fliers,\u201d Laura Seward Forczyk, the owner of the Atlanta-based space consulting firm Astralytical, told GeekWire in an email. \u201cPeople in my network flying makes it feel much closer and more accessible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Folks who aren\u2019t space consultants, or space geeks, might be hard-pressed to name a single member of the sextet \u2014 although they\u2019d probably remember that \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d comedian Pete Davidson gave up his seat due to a scheduling conflict.<\/p>\n<p>To fill that seat, Blue Origin chose its own Gary Lai. He\u2019s the chief architect for the New Shepard suborbital spaceship that\u2019s due to take off Thursday morning from the company\u2019s Launch Site One amid the rangeland of West Texas. Assuming all systems are go, launch coverage via Blue Origin\u2019s website and YouTube begins at 7:10 a.m. CT (5:10 a.m. PT), with liftoff expected around 8:20 a.m. CT (6:20 a.m. PT).  <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Replay: New Shepard Mission NS-20 Webcast\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rujDVDit02Y?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<\/figure>\n<p>This mission, known as NS-20, marks the 20th outing for Blue Origin\u2019s reusable New Shepard launch system and the fourth crewed flight. <\/p>\n<p>Headliners for the three previous trips included Jeff Bezos and aviation pioneer Wally Funk for last July\u2019s debut; Star Trek captain William Shatner for October\u2019s sequel; and Laura Shepard Churchley, the eldest daughter of pioneer NASA astronaut Alan Shepard, plus morning-show anchor Michael Strahan for December\u2019s three-peat.<\/p>\n<p>On the NS-20 mission, Lai will be joined by Marc and Sharon Hagle, the first married couple to fly in space together since 1992; George Nield, a former Federal Aviation Administration official who was involved in regulating commercial spaceflight; Jim Kitchen, a teacher and entrepreneur from North Carolina; and Marty Allen, an angel investor and former CEO of Party America. <\/p>\n<p>As an insider and last-minute substitute, Lai is flying gratis, but his five crewmates are paying undisclosed fares for their ride.<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019ll follow the same flight plan used for the other three crewed missions: New Shepard\u2019s booster is due to autonomously lift off and send the crew capsule to an altitude beyond 100 kilometers (62 miles), providing a few minutes of weightlessness and a commanding view of the terrain below. The booster is designed to land itself while the capsule floats down separately to a parachute-aided landing in the West Texas desert.<\/p>\n<p>Former NASA astronaut Nicholas Patrick, who serves as Blue Origin\u2019s lead flight director, said in a pre-launch video that safety is of paramount concern for every flight \u2014 and he said his team has built up a solid track record over the seven years of the New Shepard program. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"NS-20 Pre-Mission Interview: Lead Flight Director, Nicholas Patrick\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xpHziWaCPC0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re 20 missions into the program,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is our fourth human flight on New Shepard, and it feels like spaceflight at Blue Origin is becoming routine. That\u2019s the dream here at Blue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The idea that crewed spaceflight could ever become routine may spark cautionary caveats from some quarters of the space industry \u2014 due to past tragedies such as the catastrophic loss of two space shuttles and the fatal breakup of Virgin Galactic\u2019s first SpaceShipTwo rocket plane. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think spaceflight is anywhere near routine, even after 60 years,\u201d Astralytical\u2019s Laura Seward Forczyk said. \u201cCommercial human spaceflight is an industry in its infancy. Blue Origin flights can and should be seen as experimental.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But Forczyk said each successful space mission paves the way for the next one. \u201cI believe the move to operational spaceflight makes each flight safer, not less so,\u201d she said. In her view, the trend toward flying the not-quite-so-rich and not-quite-so-famous is a natural part of the spaceflight industry\u2019s evolution.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLast year, these spaceflights were flashy with billionaires and celebrities on their manifests. The intent was to make a splash \u2014 we are open for business! Celebrity guests weren\u2019t paying customers,\u201d Forczyk said. \u201cNow that Blue Origin passenger flights are operational, it\u2019s a business to provide an experience for paying customers. Not every flight needs to have a household name on board.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Here\u2019s the countdown schedule for NS-20, leading to an anticipated T-zero of 8:20 a.m. CT (6:20 a.m. PT) Thursday. Holds in the count could push the launch time later. Streaming coverage starts at 7:10 a.m. CT (5:10 a.m. PT):<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>T-minus-7.5 hours:<\/strong> Rocket rollout.<\/li>\n<li><strong>T-minus-3 hours:<\/strong> Propellant load.<\/li>\n<li><strong>T-minus-45 minutes:<\/strong> Crew heads to pad.<\/li>\n<li><strong>T-minus-35 minutes:<\/strong> Capsule ingress.<\/li>\n<li><strong>T-minus-24 minutes:<\/strong> Hatch closed.<\/li>\n<li><strong>T-minus-10 minutes:<\/strong> Final \u201cgo\u201d for launch.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em><strong>Update for 5:30 a.m. PT March 31:<\/strong> We\u2019ve updated this report with revised times for the start of countdown coverage and anticipated liftoff.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The crew for Blue Origin\u2019s next space mission huddles in advance of their launch on a New Shepard suborbital spaceship. From left: Gary Lai, George Nield, Jim Kitchen, Marty Allen, Sharon Hagle and Marc Hagle. (Blue Origin Photo) When Jeff Bezos\u2019 Blue Origin space venture sends its next crew on a suborbital ride to space, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[509,1250,493,4402],"class_list":["post-17402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-blue-origin","tag-new-shepard","tag-space-tourism","tag-suborbital-spaceflight"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17402"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17402\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}