RSS First Step

Last updated

RSS First Step
Type Space capsule
Class New Shepard crew capsule
Owner Blue Origin
ManufacturerBlue Origin
Specifications
Rocket New Shepard
History
Location Van Horn, Texas
First flight
  • 14 January 2021
  • Blue Origin NS-14
Last flight
  • Active
Flights14
New Shepard crew capsules

RSS First Step (Reusable Space Ship First Step) is a New Shepard space capsule, built and operated by American spaceflight company Blue Origin. [1] It is the third New Shepard capsule to fly to space, and the first to fly passengers. Its first flight was the NS-14 mission, which reached an altitude of 107 km (66 mi) on 14 January 2021. [2]

Contents

History

RSS First Step is the third New Shepard capsule built by Blue Origin, and the first designed to carry passengers. It flew to space for the first time on 14 January 2021, during the NS-14 spaceflight. NS-14 also served as the maiden flight of the NS4 propulsion module. [3] The following flight, NS-15, which was also flown uncrewed by First Step and NS4, tested boarding and deboarding in what Blue Origin called an "astronaut operational exercise." [4]

First Step flew Blue Origin's first crewed flight on 20 July 2021, carrying founder Jeff Bezos and three other passengers to space. [5] This made Texas the fourth state to launch humans into space, [6] after Florida, California, and New Mexico. As of November 2022, it has flown five subsequent crewed spaceflights, carrying a total of 31 people into space, including one (Evan Dick) twice.

The New Shepard fleet was grounded from September 2022 until December 2023 due to a failure during the NS-23 mission. The capsule used during the mission, RSS H.G. Wells, managed to abort successfully, while the booster was destroyed. The next mission NS-24 (uncrewed) and the next crewed mission NS-25 took place following an investigation. [7]

Flights

MissionLaunch date (UTC)Landing date (UTC)CrewDurationRemarksOutcome
NS-1414 January 202114 January 2021Uncrewed~10 minutesUncrewed test flight. Maiden flight of NS4 propulsion module.Success
NS-1514 April 202114 April 2021Uncrewed~10 minutesUncrewed test flight. Passenger process test conducted. Four Blue Origin employees serve as stand-in passengers.Success
NS-16 20 July 2021,

13:11

20 July 2021,

13:21

10 minutes, 18 secondsFirst crewed flight of the New Shepard vehicle and first crewed spaceflight from Texas. Carried Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos and three other passengers. [8] Success
NS-18 13 October 2021,

14:49

13 October 2021,

14:59

10 minutes, 17 secondsSpace tourism mission. Second crewed flight of New Shepard. Carried actor William Shatner and three other paying passengers. [9] Success
NS-19 11 December 2021,

15:00

11 December 2021,

15:10

10 minutes, 13 secondsSpace tourism mission. Third crewed flight of New Shepard. First fully crewed New Shepard spaceflight. Carried Laura Shepard Churchley, the daughter of Alan Shepard, for whom the vehicle is named after, football player and Good Morning America host Michael Strahan, and four other paying passengers. [10] Success
NS-20 31 March 2022,

13:57

31 March 2022,

14:07

10 minutes, 4 secondsSpace tourism mission. Fourth crewed flight of New Shepard. Comedian Pete Davidson was originally expected to be on board, but was unable to fly due to a launch date change. Davidson was replaced by New Shepard chief architect Gary Lai. Five other paying passengers were on board. [11] Success
NS-21 4 June 2022, 13:254 June 2022, 13:35
10 minutes, 5 seconds [12] Space tourism mission. Fifth crewed flight of New Shepard. Crew included NS-19 crew member Evan Dick, and undersea explorer Victor Vescovo. [13] Success
NS-22 4 August 2022, 13:564 August 2022, 14:06
10 minutes, 22 secondsSpace tourism mission. Sixth crewed flight of New Shepard. Crew included first Portuguese person and first Egyptian person in space. [14] Success
NS-25 19 May 2024, 14:3519 May 2024, 14:45
9 minutes, 53 secondsSpace tourism mission. Seventh crewed flight of New Shepard. Crew included Ed Dwight, the oldest person to reach space. [15] Success
NS-26 29 August 2024, 13:0729 August 2024, 13:17
  • Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Flag of Singapore.svg [16] Nicolina Elrick
  • Flag of the United States.svg Rob Ferl
  • Flag of Ukraine.svg Eugene Grin
  • Flag of Iran.svg Flag of the United States.svg Eiman Jahangir
  • Flag of the United States.svg Karsen Kitchen
  • Flag of the United States.svg Flag of Israel.svg Ephraim Rabin
10 minutes, 8 secondsSpace tourism mission. Eight crewed flight of New Shepard. Crew included Karsen Kitchen, the youngest woman to cross the Kármán line (100 km) at 21 years old.Success
NS-28 22 November 2024, 15:3022 November 2024, 15:40
  • Flag of the United States.svg Emily Calandrelli
  • Flag of the United States.svg Sharon Hagle (2)
  • Flag of the United States.svg Marc Hagle (2)
  • Flag of the United States.svg Austin Litteral
  • Flag of the United States.svg James (J.D.) Russell
  • Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Henry (Hank) Wolfond
10 minutes, 8 secondsSpace tourism mission. Ninth crewed flight of New Shepard.Success
NS-30 25 February 2025, 15:4925 February 2025, 15:59
10 minutes, 8 secondsSpace tourism mission. Tenth crewed flight of New Shepard.Success
NS-32 31 May 2025, 13:3931 May 2025, 13:49
10 minutes, 7 secondsSpace tourism mission. 12th crewed flight of New Shepard.Success
NS-34 3 August 2025, 12:423 August 2025, 12:52
10 minutes, 14 secondsSpace tourism mission. 14th crewed flight of New Shepard.Success

References

  1. ↑ Burghardt, Thomas (14 January 2021). "Blue Origin tests New Shepard capsule upgrades on NS-14 mission". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  2. ↑ "Blue Origin's New Shepard spaceship aces uncrewed rehearsal for crewed space trips". GeekWire. 14 January 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  3. ↑ "Mission NS-14". Blue Origin. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  4. ↑ Sheetz, Michael (14 April 2021). "Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin launches and lands rocket New Shepard, as it prepares to launch people". CNBC. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  5. ↑ Roulette, Joey (20 July 2021). "Blue Origin successfully sends Jeff Bezos and three others to space and back". The Verge. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  6. ↑ Leinfelder, Andrea (20 July 2021). "With Jeff Bezos on board, Blue Origin launches first crewed spaceflight from West Texas". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  7. ↑ "Blue Origin rocket malfunctions, triggers dramatic but safe abort for unpiloted New Shepard capsule". www.cbsnews.com. 12 September 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  8. ↑ "Jeff Bezos launches to space aboard New Shepard rocket ship". BBC News. 20 July 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  9. ↑ "Blue Origin successfully and safely completes second human flight to space and back". Blue Origin. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  10. ↑ "Blue Origin Completes Third Human Spaceflight". Blue Origin. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  11. ↑ "Blue Origin's 20th Mission to Space". Blue Origin. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  12. ↑ @blueorigin (4 June 2022). "Official launch time was 8:25:02 AM CDT / 13:25:02 UTC. Capsule landing occurred at 8:35:07 AM CDT / 13:35:07 UTC" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 June 2022– via Twitter.
  13. ↑ "New Shepard Mission NS-21 to Fly Six Customer Astronauts, Including First Mexican-Born Woman to Visit Space". www.spacenews.com. 9 May 2022. Archived from the original on 3 September 2024. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  14. ↑ "First Egyptian and Portuguese Astronauts to join Dude Perfect Cofounder on New Shepard's 22nd Flight". Blue Origin. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  15. ↑ "New Shepard's 25th Mission Includes America's First Black Astronaut Candidate". Blue Origin. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  16. ↑ Elrick is a permanent resident of Singapore, and intends to become a Singapore citizen.
  17. ↑ Chia was born and raise in Singapore, but Singapore does not allow dual citizenship.
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