Blue Origin launched the 15th mission of their suborbital New Shepard launch system, including booster and capsule, on a test flight that will prove crucial to the company\u2019s ability to begin carrying people. <\/p>\n
Liftoff occurred at 12:50 EDT \/ 16:50 UTC on 14 April after a brief weather delay. The booster and capsule landed safely after the capsule reached 106 km above Earth sea-level.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
NS-15<\/b><\/p>\n
After announcing the flight just days ago, Blue Origin revealed further information on the mission Tuesday, when the company said the flight would be a dress rehearsal for crew flights and would involve stand-in astronauts \u2014 who are in reality Blue Origin employees \u2014 for pre-launch and post-landing operations. <\/p>\n
The use of stand-in astronauts allowed technicians and launch personnel to practice loading people into the capsule on the launch pad and preparing the crew and capsule for flight. They also gained insight from the stand-in astronauts on the ease with which they could climb the launch tower and ingress the vehicle and their seats.<\/p>\n
In all, the stand-in astronauts not just entered the crew capsule prior to liftoff but also strapped themselves into their seats with the help of ground support personnel and conducted communications checks with launch control teams.<\/p>\n
After this, the ground team then closed and locked the hatch as if preparing for a flight. <\/p>\n
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