Blue Origin says the New Shepard rocket and capsule that will take Jeff Bezos into space are ready to fly. The rocket will make its first manned flight on July 20 tomorrow.
Blue Origin Chief Engineer Chris Jaeger said the rocket and capsules were inspected after its last test flight. "The vehicle is ready to fly. There are no mechanical or technical problems," Jaeger said in a media briefing before the launch, as quoted by Forbes on Monday (19/7/2021).
The flight will take place nine days after Virgin Galactic takes Richard Branson and three of his employees into space. The difference is, the first Blue Origin flight will carry the first passenger who has paid for the ticket, namely Oliver Daemen.
Blue Origin did not disclose how much money Daemen paid to get the tickets, but Blue Origin Astronaut and Orbital Sales Director Ariane Cornell said space travel tickets were already heavily ordered.
“From a sales perspective, we are very pleased that we are flying our first customer in New Shepard,” Cornell said.
Blue Origin’s inaugural manned flight will also carry Mark Bezos ’brother and flight pioneer Wally Funk. At 82, Funk will be the oldest person to ever fly into space.
Two days before the launch, the four flight crews had to undergo a series of training. The training program includes safety briefings, flight simulations, an overview of the rocket and its operation, and instructions on how to hover in the cabin.
The 14 -hour training was attended by Blue Origin employees, and will then be one of the must -follow programs for customers who have purchased tickets.
Unlike the Virgin Galactic flight which takes 1.5 hours, the Blue Origin flight will only last around 12 minutes. The flight is scheduled to launch at 9 a.m. Eastern U.S. time, and three minutes later the capsule will detach from the rocket.
The capsule, called RSS First Step, will continue to fly into space and reach a peak about seven minutes after takeoff. Minutes after the apogee, Bezos and the rest of the crew will be able to feel the sensation of drifting in zero gravity.
About 10-12 minutes after takeoff, the capsule will start to Earth and land with the help of a parachute. These rockets and capsules are designed to be used again on subsequent flights.
These rockets and capsules were never used to carry passengers into space, but Blue Origin says the transportation system has successfully flown and landed in two test flights.
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