Blue Origin has successfully completed its NS-25 mission, which marks a triumphant return to crewed flights after nearly two years. The mission carried six space tourists, including Ed Dwight, who had been selected by President John F Kennedy in 1961 to be the United States’ first Black astronaut candidate, but who had never before reached space.
Joining him on this journey were software engineer and entrepreneur Ken Hess, retired accountant Carol Schaller, brewery founder Sylvain Chiron, aviator Gopi Thotakura and venture capitalist Mason Angel.
Ed Dwight, reflecting on his long-awaited journey, expressed his enthusiasm in a Blue Origin promotional video. “I thought the whole idea of going to space with Blue Origin was a fascinating last chapter,” Dwight said. “I really, really want to do this because each person who goes up there all of a sudden has a totally different perspective of this little place here.”
The successful completion of NS-25 marks Blue Origin’s recovery from the NS-22 mission anomaly in August 2022, which resulted in an aborted flight shortly after liftoff. Following this incident, the company worked closely with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to implement 21 corrective actions aimed at enhancing flight safety. This collaborative effort culminated in a successful unmanned mission in December 2023, which carried 33 cargo payloads into space.
This mission represents the 25th launch of the New Shepard rocket and its seventh with a human crew, bringing the total number of individuals flown to space by Blue Origin to 37.
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 (Source - www.nasa.gov) (1)_20240611160701_original_image_40.webp)
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