Blue Origin NS-26

Blue Origin NS-26

Mission type	Crewed sub-orbital spaceflight
Mission duration	10 minutes, 8 seconds
Apogee	105 km (65 mi) [1]
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	RSS First Step
Manufacturer	Blue Origin
Crew
Crew size	6
Members	Ephraim Rabin Nicolina Elrick Eugene Grin Rob Ferl Karsen Kitchen Eiman Jahangir
Start of mission
Launch date	August 29, 2024, 8:07:03 am CDT (13:07:03  UTC) [1]
Rocket	New Shepard (NS4)
Launch site	Corn Ranch, LS-1
Contractor	Blue Origin
End of mission
Landing date	August 29, 2024, 8:17:11 am CDT (13:17:11 UTC) [1]
Landing site	Corn Ranch
Blue Origin NS-26 mission patch New Shepard crewed flights ←  Blue Origin NS-25 Blue Origin NS-28  → New Shepard flights ←  Blue Origin NS-25 Blue Origin NS-27  →

Blue Origin NS-26 was a sub-orbital spaceflight mission, operated by Blue Origin, launched on August 29, 2024, using the New Shepard rocket. ^{[2] [3] [4] [5]}

Crew

Prime crew

Position	Crew
Tourist	Nicolina Elrick First spaceflight
Scientist	Rob Ferl First spaceflight
Tourist	Eugene Grin First spaceflight
Tourist	Eiman Jahangir First spaceflight
Tourist	Karsen Kitchen First spaceflight
Tourist	Ephraim Rabin First spaceflight

Details

The flight's crew included NASA-funded scientist Rob Ferl who is a professor at the University of Florida. During the flight, he performed experiments studying the change of gene expression in one type of plant when the plant was exposed to microgravity and other different phases of flight. Professor Ferl was the first NASA-funded researcher flying aboard New Shepard (or indeed aboard any of the commercial suborbital space vehicles of the 21st century). His flight and experiments were funded by NASA's Flight Opportunities program. ^[5]

Nicolina Elrick is an entrepreneur. She is a British citizen from Scotland and also a permanent resident of Singapore, and intends to become a Singapore citizen. ^[6]

Eiman Jahangir's flight was sponsored by the cryptocurrency spaceflight accelerator organization MoonDAO. ^[5]

Karsen Kitchen became the youngest woman and youngest American to cross the Kármán line (100 km) at 21 years old. ^[5] Anastatia Mayers was at the time the youngest woman to fly to space (above 50 miles altitude, US definition of space) and remained so after Karsen Kitchen's flight.

References

1. Blue Origin [@blueorigin] (August 29, 2024). "Key stats from today's mission: The Crew Capsule reached an apogee of 342,314 ft AGL / 345,961 ft MSL (104 km AGL / 105 km MSL) The booster reached an apogee of 341,985 ft AGL / 345,632 ft MSL (104 km AGL / 105 km MSL) Official launch time was 8:07:03 AM CDT / 13:07:03 UTC. Capsule landing occurred at 8:17:11 AM CDT / 13:17:11 UTC. The mission elapsed time was 10 min 8 sec; the max ascent velocity was 2,238 mph / 3,602 km/h" (Tweet). Retrieved January 28, 2025– via Twitter.
2. "Blue Origin Announces Crew for New Shepard's 26th Mission". Blue Origin. July 24, 2024. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
3. Argueta, Brenda (July 24, 2024). "Next crew announced for Blue Origin. Here's who's going to space". WKMG. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
4. Foust, Jeff (August 23, 2024). "Blue Origin sets date for next New Shepard flight after completing parachute investigation". SpaceNews. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
5. Foust, Jeff (August 29, 2024). "Blue Origin flies NASA-funded scientist and space tourists on New Shepard suborbital flight". SpaceNews. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
6. Tao, Poong Qi (November 14, 2024). "She may not be a citizen yet but she proudly took S'pore flag to outer space". The New Paper. Retrieved November 25, 2024.