{"id":19373,"date":"2016-05-26T20:46:16","date_gmt":"2016-05-26T12:46:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/jeff-bezos-says-blue-origins-next-spaceflight-will-test-parachute-failure\/"},"modified":"2016-05-26T20:46:16","modified_gmt":"2016-05-26T12:46:16","slug":"jeff-bezos-says-blue-origins-next-spaceflight-will-test-parachute-failure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/jeff-bezos-says-blue-origins-next-spaceflight-will-test-parachute-failure\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeff Bezos says Blue Origin\u2019s next spaceflight will test parachute failure"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_252097\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-252097\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-252097\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/160526-shepard-630x568.jpg\" alt=\"Blue Origin parachutes\" width=\"630\" height=\"568\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/160526-shepard-630x568.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/160526-shepard-768x693.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/160526-shepard-1240x1119.jpg 1240w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/160526-shepard.jpg 1810w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-252097\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Blue Origin\u2019s New Shepard crew capsule descends on the end of its parachute system during an uncrewed test flight in April 2015. (Credit: Blue Origin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos predicts there\u2019ll be a problem with a parachute the next time his Blue Origin venture flies its uncrewed New Shepard spaceship. He\u2019ll&nbsp;make sure of it.<\/p>\n<p>Flying with a bad parachute is part of Blue Origin\u2019s plan to test the suborbital craft under stressful conditions, in preparation for flying passengers to the edge of outer space in as little as two years.<\/p>\n<p>In today\u2019s email update, Bezos said he and the rest of the team were \u201cfinishing our mission planning for another flight of New Shepard, which will be our fourth flight with this vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The New Shepard propulsion module and crew capsule went through successful flights to space and vertical landings in November, January and April at Blue Origin\u2019s West Texas launch facility. During last month\u2019s test outing, the propulsion module didn\u2019t relight its hydrogen-powered BE-3 rocket engine until just seconds before what would have been a crash landing. New Shepard made a soft touchdown nevertheless.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn this next mission, we\u2019ll execute additional maneuvers on both the crew capsule and the booster to increase our vehicle characterization and modeling accuracy,\u201d Bezos wrote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe also plan to stress the crew capsule by landing with an intentionally failed parachute, demonstrating our ability to safely handle that failure scenario,\u201d he continued. \u201cIt promises to be an exciting demonstration.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Flight 3: GH2 Vent Cam\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JNPpdHYD8jo?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>The demonstration won\u2019t necessarily end in a crash. Three independent parachutes are used to ease the crew capsule\u2019s descent. If one fails, the other two should still hold up. There\u2019s also a retro-thrust system that\u2019s designed to cushion the landing.<\/p>\n<p>Bezos didn\u2019t say when the next test flight would occur. Last time, he provided a day\u2019s advance notice via Twitter.<\/p>\n<p>In the past, Bezos has acknowledged that he fully expects to lose some of the hardware that\u2019s been built at Blue Origin\u2019s headquarters in Kent, Wash. More crew capsules and propulsion modules are being built to boost Blue Origin\u2019s fleet.<\/p>\n<p>If the tests proceed as Bezos hopes, the uncrewed tests will progress next year to flights with test pilots&nbsp;\u2013 or more precisely, test passengers, since the spacecraft is flown autonomously. That would set the stage for passengers, including tourists as well as researchers, to fly beyond the 100-kilometer (62-mile) boundary of outer space and experience weightlessness in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>Blue Origin is already flying scientific payloads during the uncrewed testing phase.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_252096\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-252096\" style=\"width: 226px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-252096\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/testfac-226x300.jpg\" alt=\"Preburner test facility\" width=\"226\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/testfac-226x300.jpg 226w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/testfac-200x266.jpg 200w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/testfac-75x100.jpg 75w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/testfac.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 226px) 100vw, 226px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-252096\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Blue Origin\u2019s preburner test facility stands ready for use. (Credit: Blue Origin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In today\u2019s email, Bezos also provided an update on the construction of test facilities for Blue Origin\u2019s next-generation BE-4 engine, which is fueled by natural gas. He said the first of two concrete chambers designed for testing the engine\u2019s preburner start and ignition sequence was commissioned last week.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the many benefits of a privately funded engine development is&nbsp;that we can make and implement decisions quickly,\u201d Bezos wrote. \u201cWe made the decision to build these two new test cells as a team in a 10-minute discussion.&nbsp; Less than three weeks later we were pouring concrete and now we have an operating pressure-fed test cell seven months later.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The BE-4 is being developed for use in Blue Origin\u2019s orbital launch vehicle, which is only in the early stages of design, as well as in United Launch Alliance\u2019s next-generation Vulcan rocket. By early next year, ULA is expected to decide whether to stick with the BE-4 or go with its Plan B, which involves buying Aerojet Rocketdyne\u2019s AR-1 engine.<\/p>\n<p>The Vulcan is a big part of ULA\u2019s plan to comply with federal legislation and discontinue the use of Russian-made RD-180 engines. Bezos touted Blue Origin\u2019s Plan A as the best way to proceed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPrivate funding and rapid decision making are two of the reasons why the BE-4 is the fastest path to eliminate U.S. dependence on the Russian-made RD-180,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Blue Origin\u2019s New Shepard crew capsule descends on the end of its parachute system during an uncrewed test flight in April 2015. (Credit: Blue Origin) Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos predicts there\u2019ll be a problem with a parachute the next time his Blue Origin venture flies its uncrewed New Shepard spaceship. He\u2019ll&nbsp;make sure of it. Flying [&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":[4459,509,291,1046,1250],"class_list":["post-19373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-be-4-rocket-engine","tag-blue-origin","tag-commercial-space","tag-jeff-bezos","tag-new-shepard"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19373"}],"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=19373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19373\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}