{"id":17504,"date":"2021-08-26T18:55:32","date_gmt":"2021-08-26T10:55:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/paintings-not-people-take-the-spotlight-in-blue-origins-latest-suborbital-space-trip\/"},"modified":"2021-08-26T18:55:32","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T10:55:32","slug":"paintings-not-people-take-the-spotlight-in-blue-origins-latest-suborbital-space-trip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/paintings-not-people-take-the-spotlight-in-blue-origins-latest-suborbital-space-trip\/","title":{"rendered":"Paintings, not people, take the spotlight in Blue Origin\u2019s latest suborbital space trip"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_638547\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-638547\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-638547\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/210826-launch-630x479.jpg\" alt=\"New Shepard launch\" width=\"630\" height=\"479\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/210826-launch-630x479.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/210826-launch-768x584.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/210826-launch.jpg 957w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-638547\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Blue Origin\u2019s New Shepard suborbital spaceship lifts off for an uncrewed research mission. (Blue Origin via YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A little more than a month after Amazon founder Jeff Bezos took a rocket ride, his Blue Origin space venture sent another New Shepard suborbital spaceship to the final frontier \u2014 but this time the high-profile payloads were paintings, not people.<\/p>\n<p>Blue Origin\u2019s 17th New Shepard mission lifted off from the company\u2019s suborbital spaceport in West Texas at 9:31 a.m. CT (7:31 a.m. PT) today, after a couple of countdown holds that provided opportunities for last-minute checks of the rocket and its payloads.<\/p>\n<p>The reusable vehicle that Bezos and three crewmates rode last month was optimized to fly passengers, but the spaceship for today\u2019s flight was optimized to carry research payloads instead. No humans were riding along for this particular rocket ship\u2019s eighth suborbital outing.<\/p>\n<p>The flight followed the standard profile for New Shepard: The hydrogen-fueled booster pushed the capsule to an altitude of 347,434 feet (105.9 kilometers), which is above the 100-kilometer (62-mile) \u201cKarman Line\u201d that marks a widely accepted outer-space boundary.<\/p>\n<p>Minutes later, the booster touched down autonomously on a landing pad not far from the launch site. \u201cJust like she was landing on the moon,\u201d launch commentator Jacki Cortese said.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the capsule experienced a few minutes of weightlessness, and then floated down to a parachute-aided landing in the West Texas desert.<\/p>\n<p>The flight took 10 minutes from launch to the capsule\u2019s touchdown.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Replay - New Shepard Mission NS-17 Webcast\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZUZZ0EDzII0?start=5414&amp;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>This mission\u2019s primary research task was to test a precision landing system for NASA, following up on an initial test conducted last October. The guidance system is designed for use aboard crewed lunar landers for NASA\u2019s Artemis program.<\/p>\n<p>There were 18 other scientific payloads tucked inside the New Shepard capsule, 11 of which received financial support from NASA. One payload tested a process for turning common spaceflight waste products into exhaust gases and useful resources such as water and propellant. Another payload put a novel method for measuring propellant levels to the test in zero-G.<\/p>\n<p>But the marquee payloads actually rode on the exterior of the capsule: In cooperation with Utah-based Uplift Aerospace, Blue Origin flew three portraits that Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo painted on the capsule\u2019s main chute covers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSuborbital Triptych\u201d depicts Boafo\u2019s mother; the mother of fellow artist Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, a childhood friend of Boafo\u2019s; and Boafo himself.<\/p>\n<p>Bezos shared images of Boafo and the artwork on Instagram after the landing:<\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"instagram-media instagram-media-rendered\" id=\"instagram-embed-0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CTC383CFhPG\/embed\/captioned\/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=987&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekwire.com&amp;rp=%2F2021%2Fblue-origin-artwork%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A1752.2249999456108%7D\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"1152\" data-instgrm-payload-id=\"instagram-media-payload-0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"background: white; max-width: 658px; width: calc(100% - 2px); border-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219); box-shadow: none; display: block; margin: 0px 0px 12px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"\/\/platform.instagram.com\/en_US\/embeds.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>\u201cA self-portrait looking up to the skies best explains what this project means to me,\u201d Boafo said in a pre-launch statement. \u201cI grew up knowing the sky was the limit, and now I get to work on a project that goes beyond the sky as we know it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSuborbital Triptych\u201d is meant to be the first in a series of \u201cArt x Space\u201d philanthropic initiatives organized by Uplift.<\/p>\n<p>Blue Origin also flew thousands of postcards sent in by kids under the auspices of the Club for the Future, the company\u2019s nonprofit educational foundation. Some of those cards had an extra connection to the contemporary art world: They\u2019re decorated with space-themed graphics from a music video that was created for OK Go Sandbox\u2019s #ArtTogetherNow initiative.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"OK Go Sandbox - Art Together Now (Praxinoscope Version)\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7JCEXOYOK9A?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>After Bezos returned from Blue Origin\u2019s first-ever crewed spaceflight, the company announced that the next crewed flight would take place in the September-October time frame. The crew for that mission, presumably including customers who have paid a hefty but undisclosed ticket price, has not yet been announced.<\/p>\n<p>A month ago, Bezos said that nearly $100 million in private ticket sales had been brought in for future spaceflights. The same figure was cited during today\u2019s webcast.<\/p>\n<p>By all appearances, Blue Origin\u2019s New Shepard suborbital space program has proceeded smoothly over the past six years \u2014 but the Kent, Wash.-based company\u2019s more ambitious programs are facing more significant challenges.<\/p>\n<p>The first launch of the orbital-class New Glenn rocket has been delayed until late 2022, and Blue Origin is late delivering its BE-4 rocket engines to United Launch Alliance, one of its closest partners in the space industry.<\/p>\n<p>At this week\u2019s Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno said he expected the first flight-ready BE-4 engines to be delivered for ULA\u2019s next-generation Vulcan rocket by the end of this year. Bruno acknowledged the delivery would be \u201clater than we had planned for,\u201d but he insisted that he was \u201cvery, very happy\u201d with the BE-4\u2019s performance during testing.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 564px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=b0yle&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1430884326615310342&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekwire.com%2F2021%2Fblue-origin-artwork%2F&amp;sessionId=19f412ae74a9d5efb3ca4d119efe33fe88f5279a&amp;siteScreenName=geekwire&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-tweet-id=\"1430884326615310342\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>On yet another front, Blue Origin has filed a lawsuit in federal court protesting NASA\u2019s decision not to fund a lunar lander development program that\u2019s led by Bezos\u2019 company. During today\u2019s webcast, Blue Origin repeatedly emphasized its efforts to lay the groundwork for missions to the moon, including the construction of an outdoor testbed with artificial craters and other hazards.<\/p>\n<p>NASA and SpaceX have held up work on a $2.9 billion lunar lander contract pending the outcome of Blue Origin\u2019s lawsuit. An expedited decision is expected around Nov. 1 \u2014 which just might come on the heels of Blue Origin\u2019s next crewed spaceflight.<\/p>\n<h4>Geek Life: New Shepard joins model-rocket pantheon<\/h4>\n<p><em>This is an updated version of a report first published at 8:26 p.m. PT Aug. 25.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Blue Origin\u2019s New Shepard suborbital spaceship lifts off for an uncrewed research mission. (Blue Origin via YouTube) A little more than a month after Amazon founder Jeff Bezos took a rocket ride, his Blue Origin space venture sent another New Shepard suborbital spaceship to the final frontier \u2014 but this time the high-profile payloads were [&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":[4729,509,1250,4402,4730],"class_list":["post-17504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-art","tag-blue-origin","tag-new-shepard","tag-suborbital-spaceflight","tag-uplift-aerospace"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17504"}],"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=17504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17504\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}