Bezos' Blue Origin launches first crew to edge of space since 2022 grounding
CTV
Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin launched a six-person crew - including the first U.S. Black astronaut candidate from the 1960s - from West Texas to the edge of space on Sunday, resuming its centerpiece space tourism business for the first time since its suborbital New Shepard rocket was grounded in 2022.
Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin launched a six-person crew - including the first U.S. Black astronaut candidate from the 1960s - from West Texas to the edge of space on Sunday, resuming its centerpiece space tourism business for the first time since its suborbital New Shepard rocket was grounded in 2022.
"I am ecstatic," Ed Dwight, who at age 90 years and eight months became the oldest person in space, said upon landing.
Dwight and the other passengers, seated in a gumdrop-shaped capsule atop the rocket, were launched from Blue Origin facilities near the remote desert town of Van Horn. The rocket separated from the capsule, which then ascended further beyond the boundary of Earth's atmosphere to 65.7 miles (105.7 kilometres), while the booster returned to land as planned.
The capsule then returned to Earth under parachutes, capping a mission lasting roughly 10 minutes. One of the capsule's three parachutes did not fully inflate, a hitch that may draw scrutiny before the rocket's next flight.
Dwight was the first Black astronaut candidate who was picked by former U.S. President John Kennedy in 1961 to train as an astronaut, but until now had never flown to space. Dwight stepped out of the capsule once it landed and thrust his fists into the air in celebration.
"I thought I really didn't need this in my life, but now I need it in my life," Dwight told a Blue Origin interviewer upon landing.
Blue Origin has now flown 37 private astronauts, including in 2021 "Star Trek" star William Shatner, who was 90 years and six months old at the time.
