Blue Origin NS-25

Blue Origin NS-25

Mission type	Crewed sub-orbital spaceflight
Mission duration	9 minutes, 53 seconds
Apogee	107 km (66 mi)
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	RSS First Step
Manufacturer	Blue Origin
Crew
Crew size	6
Members	Mason Angel Sylvain Chiron Ed Dwight Kenneth Hess Carol Schaller Gopichand Thotakura
Start of mission
Launch date	May 19, 2024, 9:35:09 am CDT (14:35:09  UTC) [1]
Rocket	New Shepard (NS4)
Launch site	Corn Ranch, LS-1
Contractor	Blue Origin
End of mission
Landing date	May 19, 2024, 9:45:02 am CDT (14:45:02 UTC) [1]
Landing site	Corn Ranch
Blue Origin NS-25 mission patch New Shepard crewed flights ←  Blue Origin NS-22 Blue Origin NS-26  → New Shepard flights ←  Blue Origin NS-24 Blue Origin NS-26  →

Blue Origin NS-25 was a sub-orbital spaceflight mission, operated by Blue Origin, which was launched on May 19, 2024, using the New Shepard rocket. ^{[2] [3]}

NS-25 was the first crewed New Shepard flight since NS-22 in August 2022. The New Shepard fleet was grounded following a September 2022 engine failure on an uncrewed mission. The vehicle resumed flight in December 2023. ^[4]

NS-25 carried a crew of six to a maximum altitude of 107 km (66 mi). ^[1] At T+03:12, the crew experienced weightlessness, and at T+03:31, the capsule passed the Kármán line. ^[5] The booster landed seven minutes after launch, while the capsule, deploying only two of its three parachutes, touched down ten minutes after liftoff. Launch commentators assured that the capsule is designed to land safely with only two parachutes. ^{[6] [7]}

Crew

Prime crew

Position	Crew
Tourist	Mason Angel First spaceflight
Tourist	Sylvain Chiron First spaceflight
Tourist	Ed Dwight First spaceflight
Tourist	Kenneth Hess First spaceflight
Tourist	Carol Schaller First spaceflight
Tourist	Gopichand Thotakura First spaceflight

Ed Dwight is often cited as the first African-American astronaut candidate. He made it to the second round of a 1961 Air Force program from which NASA selected astronauts, but was not selected. When he eventually flew as a space tourist on the Blue Origin suborbital flight at age 90 years, 253 days, he became the oldest person to reach space. ^{[8] [9]}

References

1. Blue Origin [@blueorigin] (May 19, 2024). "Key stats from today's mission: The Crew Capsule reached an apogee of 347,464 ft AGL / 351,111 ft MSL (106 km AGL / 107 km MSL) The booster reached an apogee of 347,105 ft AGL / 350,752 ft MSL (106 km AGL / 107 km MSL) Official launch time was 9:35:09 AM CDT / 14:35:09 UTC. Capsule landing occurred at 9:45:02 AM CDT / 14:45:02 UTC. The mission elapsed time was 9 min 53 sec; the max ascent velocity was 2,236 mph / 3,599 km/h" (Tweet). Retrieved January 28, 2025– via Twitter.
2. "New Shepard's 25th Mission Includes America's First Black Astronaut Candidate". Blue Origin. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
3. Wall, Mike (April 4, 2024). "Blue Origin will launch Ed Dwight, the 1st-ever Black astronaut candidate, to space on next New Shepard rocket flight". Space.com. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
4. Foust, Jeff (April 5, 2024). "Blue Origin to resume crewed New Shepard flights". SpaceNews . Retrieved April 8, 2024.
5. "Replay: New Shepard Mission NS-25 Webcast". YouTube . May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
6. Wall, Mike (May 19, 2024). "Blue Origin launches 1st crewed spaceflight since August 2022 (video)". Space.com. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
7. Davis, Wes (May 19, 2024). "All the news about Blue Origin's first crewed flight since 2022". The Verge. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
8. We Could Not Fail: The First African Americans in the Space Program, Chapter 5, University of Texas Press, Austin, TX, 2015, pp. 86-104
9. Wattles, Jackie; Chakraborty, Deblina (May 19, 2024). "Blue Origin launches six tourists to the edge of space after nearly two-year hiatus". CNN. Retrieved May 19, 2024.