After a brief delay Blue Origin has successfully launched its sixth crewed sub-orbital flight. The launch took place at 1357 GMT on 4 August. New Shepard flight NS-22 carried six passengers to an apogee of 347,585 ft – 106 km AGL (Above Ground Level) and 351,232 ft – 107 km MSL (Mean Sea Level) breaching the traditional limit of space – the Karman line at 100 km.
New Shepard which is a reusable, fully automated rocket-capsule combination, was launched from Blue Origin’s West Texas site later than expected. The original scheduled 1330 GMT launch was delayed by twenty minutes due to overnight storms at the launch site following by a seven-minute hold during countdown.
Blue Origin New Shepard NS-22 launch from Texas. Courtesy of Blue Origin.
At T+2.23 (two minutes 23 seconds) the main engine on the booster cut off with the vehicle then travelling at over 2000mph. This was followed by the separation of the booster from the crew capsule. At T+5.13 the crew floated free during their brief weightless period. The booster successfully completed its vertical powered landing on the pad at T+7.22.
The NS-22 crew capsule returned under its chutes and at T+10.20 it touched down between 1-2 mph assisted by its retro-thrust system which expels a puff of air to soften the capsule landing. The passenger-astronauts included Sara Sabry, Steve Young, Coby Cotton, Vanessa O’Brien, Clint Kelly III, and Mario Ferreira.
