Blue Origin is planning to launch an updated New Shepard spacecraft today, along with a test mannequin called Mannequin Skywalker. You can watch the action live right here.
The new Shepard NS-14 mission is scheduled to launch at 11:57 am ET (10:57 am CT, which is local time) for Blue Origin Launch Site One in western Texas. The live broadcast should start about 30 minutes before takeoff. You can watch it live below or Blue Origin Internet network location.
This will mark the 14th launch of the New Shepard program, which is now in its seventh year of unmanned flight testing. Eventually, the reusable suborbital launch vehicle will take space tourists, about six per flight, beyond the Kármán line – the internationally recognized space frontier.
Looking through the capsule’s large windows, the future passengers will have a glorious view, lasting about 11 minutes, of our blue planet at heights that reach 62 miles (100 km). The New Shepard spacecraft will enter suborbital space, and, without entering Earth’s orbit, return to the surface shortly after launch. The booster will make a vertical landing, while the capsule will use a parachute to make its descent slow.
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Before that happens, however, Blue Origin needs to certify the capsule as being suitable for humans. The company is very close to achieving this, and today’s launch is an important step.
Mannequin Skywalker (a joke with Anakin Skywalker from Star Wars) traveled to the suborbital space before, but the test dummy should notice some new improvements.
The crew capsule has been modified to improve the passenger experience, including improved acoustics and temperature control inside the vehicle, new crew display panels, speakers with a microphone and a push-to-talk button on each seat, according for Blue Origin, which is owned and led by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and one of the richest people in the land. The capsule was also equipped with six seats, one of which will be occupied by the Mannequin Skywalker.
A primary objective of the New Shepard Mission NS-14 will be to test communications and security alert systems. A successful test today could set the stage for real manned flight, which is not expected until 2022. Blue Origin originally hoped to start launching humans into space in 2019.
The price of a ticket for suborbital space is not yet known, with estimates ranging from $ 50,000 to $ 250,000 per seat. sadically, these ventures in space will not be immediately accessible to us from the 99%.