Through its third space tourism flight of the year, Blue Origin set a new record by carrying the first astronauts of Egyptian and Portuguese descent into space.
On Thursday, Aug 4, Blue Origin’s New Shepard spaceship successfully carried six additional passengers into orbit from launch Site One in Texas. The crew was transported by the spaceship to a height of 100 kilometers.
Along with Mário Ferreira, the first Portuguese astronaut, Sara Sabry became the first Egyptian to travel to space. Coby Cotton, a co-founder of Dude Perfect, British-American climber Vanessa O’Brien, technology pioneer Clint Kelly III. And telecommunications executive Steve Young was also present on the flight.
The inflight astronauts disembarked after passing the 100 km line and spent a short time in weightlessness. After this brief period, the capsule parachuted down and landed in the desert. The NS-22 mission marks this booster’s ninth successful launch, according to the corporation. Remarkably, this marked the 22nd New Shepard launch altogether. And it is the sixth crewed spacecraft for Blue Origin overall.
O’Brien turned out to be the first woman ever to reach both the highest and lowest places on Earth (Mt. Everest and Challenger Deep), as well as space. With this feat, she has established the Explorers’ Extreme Trifecta Guinness World Record for her. The other notable crew members were Young, the former CEO of Young’s Communications LLC (Y-COM). Kelly is a research scientist in the fields of robotics and computer science. Further, he is currently a member of the Space Coast Coastal Conservation Association (CCA).
Expenditure of Crew Members for the Mission on Blue Origin
This NS-22 mission is also the third launch for the Jeff Bezos-led organization in the year 2022. There were six astronauts on the previous flight, NS-21, five men, and one woman. As the sole female crew member and the first Mexican-born person to reach space, Katya Echazarreta wrote history in the previous mission.
This automated, reusable rocket-capsule system called New Shepard is intended to transport passengers and research payloads. It mostly deals in quick journeys into suborbital space. The human capsule falls softly with the help of a parachute while the rocket returns to Earth by a powered landing. The operation procedure is similar to the initial stages of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy orbital rockets.
Currently, the duration of the new Shepard mission is only about 11 minutes. It provides for the arc of the Earth visible against the darkness of space. And traveling crew members can enjoy weightlessness for a short period. Nevertheless, the mission’s expenditure was kept a secret since Blue Origin has never been willing to talk about it. But as reported by The New York Times, the cost of prior missions has ranged from nothing to an astounding $28 million (about Rs220 crore) for a few moments of weightlessness.
For another comparison, Virgin Galactic charges $450,000 for seats on its VSS Unity spacecraft. Virgin Galactic is the company’s main rival in the suborbital space travel and tourism industry. Although the piloted VSS Unity has made four trips into suborbital space so far, it is not yet completely functional.
However, the flight was free for Cotton and Sabry thanks to the support of the charities MoonDAO and Space for Humanity, separately. Cotton prevailed in a MoonDAO competition to board NS-22.
MoonDAO seeks to decentralize space navigation with the long-term objective of building a self-sustaining, self-governing colony on the moon. As per the organization’s website page, it aims for the moon to function as a launch pad for mankind to further explore the universe.
On the other hand, the goal of Space for Humanity is to improve humankind’s accessibility to space. It is s Sponsoring “citizen astronauts,” who are a group of extraordinary individuals. Then the individuals will try their best to share their experiences with those of us who have never left Earth. It would be the life-changing mindset change that spaceflights can provide, and is a key component of the organization’s plan.
