Blue Origin flew their second crewed suborbital tourism flight on their New Shepard capsule and rocket with four passengers, including Star Trek\u2019s William Shatner.<\/p>\n
Liftoff of the NS-18 mission occurred at 09:49 AM CDT (14:49 UTC) from Blue Origin\u2019s suborbital launch and landing facility north of Van Horn, Texas on Wednesday, October 13.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The mission was originally targeting a launch on Tuesday, October 12; however, unfavorable weather caused Blue Origin to shift the mission by one day per preflight weather assessments.<\/p>\n
The suborbital mission lofted four participants inside of the New Shepard capsule to an altitude above 100 km, where they experienced up to four to five minutes of microgravity.<\/p>\n
The exact amount of time spent in microgravity was dependent on the ultimate altitude reached by the capsule, which was itself dependent on day-of weather conditions and the day-of performance of the BE-3 engine that powers the New Shepard booster.<\/p>\n
The BE-3 engine burned liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen stored in the New Shepard booster\u2019s propellant tanks. It produced 490 kN (110,000 lbf) of thrust at liftoff, increasing to 710 kN (160,000 lbf) thrust as the rocket ascended into the vacuum of space.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n