{"id":19487,"date":"2016-01-23T01:50:42","date_gmt":"2016-01-22T17:50:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/jeff-bezos-blue-origin-does-it-again-used-rocket-goes-into-space-and-lands-intact\/"},"modified":"2016-01-23T01:50:42","modified_gmt":"2016-01-22T17:50:42","slug":"jeff-bezos-blue-origin-does-it-again-used-rocket-goes-into-space-and-lands-intact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/jeff-bezos-blue-origin-does-it-again-used-rocket-goes-into-space-and-lands-intact\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeff Bezos\u2019 Blue Origin does it again: Used rocket goes into space and lands intact"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Blue
Blue Origin\u2019s New Shepard propulsion module fires its rocket engines for a soft landing. It marked the second trip to space and touchdown for the same prototype vehicle. (Credit: Blue Origin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos\u2019 Blue Origin space venture sent up its New Shepard suborbital spaceship on another flight test to outer-space altitudes today, and brought it back to a safe landing.<\/p>\n

The uncrewed flight at Bezos\u2019 West Texas test facility arguably marks the first time that a reusable rocket designed for a vertical landing proved to be actually reusable for space missions.<\/p>\n

There are caveats to that claim, to be sure: The SpaceShipOne rocket plane, the X-15 and NASA\u2019s space shuttles have all demonstrated reusability after going into space. Those craft landed horizontally, like an airplane, rather than vertically. In addition, test rockets flown by the DC-X program as well as Masten Space Systems, Armadillo Aerospace and SpaceX have been reused after taking vertical hops. However, those rockets stuck to altitudes below 100 kilometers (62 miles), the internationally accepted boundary of outer space.<\/p>\n

Despite all the caveats, Blue Origin\u2019s feat marks a significant step toward flying reusable rocket ships on suborbital space trips on a commercial basis, for tourism as well as for research.<\/p>\n

\"New
Blue Origin\u2019s New Shepard prototype spaceship blasts off from its Texas launch pad. (Credit: Blue Origin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThough wings and parachutes have their adherents and their advantages, I\u2019m a huge fan of rocket-powered vertical landing. Why? Because \u2014 to achieve our vision of millions of people living and working in space \u2014 we will need to build very large rocket boosters. And the vertical landing architecture scales extraordinarily well,\u201d Bezos said in a post-flight statement on Blue Origin\u2019s website, titled \u201cLaunch. Land. Repeat.\u201d<\/p>\n

The prototype spaceship is the same one that demonstrated a vertical landing after flying beyond 100 kilometers last November. This time, New Shepard rose to a height of 101.7 kilometers (63.2 miles, or 333,582 feet), Blue Origin said. A video of the flight test shows the craft\u2019s empty passenger capsule floating back down at the end of a parachute, and the propulsion module firing its thrusters to make an upright landing at a descent rate of 4.2 mph.<\/p>\n