Blue Origin has successfully completed its NS-25 mission, marking the resumption of crewed flights after nearly two years.
This mission carried six space tourists, including artist and former Air Force Captain Ed Dwight. Selected in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy as the first Black astronaut candidate, Dwight finally reached the edge of space today. The other passengers were software engineer and entrepreneur Ken Hess; retired accountant Carol Schaller; Sylvain Chiron, founder of the brewery Brasserie Mont Blanc; aviator Gopi Thotakura; and venture capitalist Mason Angel of Industrious Ventures.
“I thought the whole idea of going to space with Blue Origin was a fascinating last chapter,” Dwight stated in a Blue Origin promotional video. “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.”
Soon, Ed Dwight will complete a mission that began 63 years ago. Watch: https://t.co/TH41xP0MkB pic.twitter.com/aNmFjltM6z
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) May 19, 2024
The New Shepard rocket and crew capsule successfully returned to Earth.
Blue Origin, the private space company founded by Jeff Bezos, had paused launches following an anomaly in the NS-22 mission in August 2022, which resulted in an aborted mission after liftoff.
In collaboration with the Federal Aviation Administration, the company identified 21 corrective actions before proceeding with the next New Shepard launch. The rocket returned to operational status in December 2023 with an unmanned launch that carried 33 cargo payloads into space.
As suggested by the name NS-25, today marked the 25th mission for New Shepard and the seventh mission with humans on board. This brings Blue Origin’s total number of human passengers flown to space to 37.
