Blue Origin - First Human Flight Livestream

[jthompson]

Not sure if this has been shared already, but Jeff Bezos flies to space today.

 

Not far off launching now. Livetream on YouTube:

[localzuk]

That rocket shape though... *Insert HIMYM scene here*

 

But again, another somewhat pointless system IMO. Suborbital space tourism rocket. We don't need space tourism.

Edited July 20, 2021 by localzuk

[6Foot2]

Well, that was over quickly!

[localzuk]

11m beginning to end.

 

They experienced, what, a minute of zero G?

 

Also, did anyone notice how hard it hit the ground? Was going 16m/s according to their stream - that's 35mph! Bet there's some bruised bums on that thing, unless their seats absorb it.

[tg12]

I think the problem is, when I think of private space flight, I think immediately of SpaceX, and how they’re capable of lifting payloads to orbit, along with humans, on board quite advanced spacecraft. This in comparison is quite a bit less than that

[localzuk]

I think the problem is, when I think of private space flight, I think immediately of SpaceX, and how they’re capable of lifting payloads to orbit, along with humans, on board quite advanced spacecraft. This in comparison is quite a bit less than that

 

Yeah, precisely. They've Bezos and Branson seem to have barely scratched the surface. Sure, Virgin Orbit has launched a few small satellites too, but compared to SpaceX they are seriously behind.

[Jawloms]

Can't remember which comedian it was who said it, but I saw one say "I'm not going to space until they stop cheering every time it's a successful launch".

[Dos_Box]

I think the problem is, when I think of private space flight, I think immediately of SpaceX, and how they’re capable of lifting payloads to orbit, along with humans, on board quite advanced spacecraft. This in comparison is quite a bit less than that

 

And they have much better production values too!

[Dos_Box]

11m beginning to end.

 

They experienced, what, a minute of zero G?

 

Also, did anyone notice how hard it hit the ground? Was going 16m/s according to their stream - that's 35mph! Bet there's some bruised bums on that thing, unless their seats absorb it.

 

Aparently there were landing rockets that cut in at the last second to make the landing gentler and you can see that in the footage (it really is at teh last second though!).

There's still only SapceX doing the serious space stuff atm though, which is a shame.

[localzuk]

Aparently there were landing rockets that cut in at the last second to make the landing gentler and you can see that in the footage (it really is at teh last second though!).

 

Huh. Didn't notice that.

There's still only SapceX doing the serious space stuff atm though, which is a shame.

 

Yeah, it really is. You've got NASA boondoggling themselves forward with SLS at an extraordinary cost I suppose.

 

ULA and Blue Origin seem to very much be focused on the easiest money - anything complex and their bids either don't exist or they are much more expensive than SpaceX's idea.

 

I suspect that's due to SpaceX's way of working though - they have a similar iterative building process to the USSR. Make something, try it. See what works, what doesn't. Make another, repeat. Gets some great real world experience, even if things explode. Its probably why SpaceX's first run of their super heavy engine went perfectly - they've done so many iterations of stuff now, the changes are becoming easier for them.

[tg12]

SLS is basically a white elephant to keep Space Shuttle contractors happy. Hence why most of the parts have been recycled from that programme. It's outdated tech long before it even got built.

[6Foot2]

Link: William Shatner to Fly to Space on Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin Rocket

 

After decades of playing Captain Kirk, William Shatner will be traveling to outer space for the first time.

 

The Hollywood star, best known for playing Captain James T. Kirk in "Star Trek," will be on Blue Origin's next rocket launch on October 12, the space company confirmed on Monday. TMZ first reported in September Shatner's plans to fly into space with Blue Origin, but now a date has been set.

 

It will be the company's second space-tourism launch since its founder Jeff Bezos traveled into space in July. The journey will take about 11 minutes and will carry the New Shepard's four passengers past the Kármán Line, an internationally-recognized boundary that defines outer space.

 

90-year-old Shatner will become the oldest person to travel into space, after Blue Origin broke the record a few months earlier when 82-year-old Wally Funk joined Bezos, the billionaire's brother Mark Bezos, and 19-year-old Oliver Daemen in the New Shepard capsule...

[6Foot2]

 

New Shepard’s 18th mission, NS-18, will lift off on Wednesday, October 13, carrying four astronauts, Dr. Chris Boshuizen, Glen de Vries, Audrey Powers, and William Shatner, to space and back.

 

Live launch coverage begins T-90 minutes.

 

Lift off scheduled at 15:00 BST.

 

Edit: Take off and touchdown completed.

Edited October 13, 2021 by 6Foot2

[6Foot2]

 

This was the voyage of the RSS First Step today. Its mission: encounter Earth from incredible views at apogee.

[6Foot2]

Twitter Exchange Between Chris Hadfield And William Shatner:

 

Link:

 

 

*Tweets date: 3^rd of January 2013