That's about 10,000 times higher than the rate on commercial airplanes. For now, the Federal Aviation Administration just ensures that these rocket launches don't pose a threat to other aircraft or to people on the ground.Ībout 1% of US human spaceflights have resulted in a fatal accident, according to an analysis published earlier this year. Still, no federal agency regulates the safety of passengers on private commercial spaceflights. Blue Origin has tested the escape system on the launchpad, in midair, and in space. It also has an emergency-escape system that should jettison the passenger capsule away if the rocket malfunctions. New Shepard has flown 16 times - a strong record. The company's statement added that Abrams "was dismissed for cause two years ago after repeated warnings for issues involving federal export control regulations." Abrams denied receiving such warnings. Jeff Bezos inspects a New Shepard rocket booster after it landed from a test flight. The flight is automated, so no pilot will be on board. He will share the spaceship with former NASA engineer Chris Boshuizen, healthcare entrepreneur Glen de Vries, and Blue Origin's vice president of mission and flight operations, Audrey Powers. "I'm thrilled and anxious and a little nervous and a little frightened about this whole new adventure," Shatner told the "Today" show last week.Īt age 90, Shatner will become the oldest person to reach the boundary of space, breaking the record set by 82-year-old aviator Wally Funk on Bezos' July flight. This is the company's second flight with passengers its first carried Bezos and three others above the planet in July. They'll get about three minutes of weightlessness. The entire flight lasts just 11 minutes, with passengers reaching an altitude of 62 miles. Kirk in "Star Trek," actor William Shatner is about to fly to space in real life.īlue Origin, the rocket company Jeff Bezos founded in 2000, is preparing to rocket Shatner and three others to the edge of space aboard its New Shepard launch system at 9 a.m. Update: William Shatner and three other passengers flew to the edge of space aboard the New Shepard rocket and landed safely on Wednesday morning.įive decades after debuting as the cosmos-exploring commander Captain James T. Watch Blue Origin's livestream of the 11-minute spaceflight below. The Jeff-Bezos-founded company is due to launch Shatner and three others at 9 a.m. "Star Trek" actor William Shatner is to fly to the edge of space on a Blue Origin rocket. Starship is intended to be reusable, it should be noted, and it is hoped the ZQ-2 can be reused at some point, too.William Shatner (left) purchased a seat on Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket (right). We asked SpaceX for comment on the LandSpace launch, and to ask when it might attempt another launch of Starship, but didn't hear back. The US Federal Aviation Administration has since grounded the world's largest (attempt at a) rocket, and it's unclear when it'll be allowed to fly again. No one was aboard the Blue Origin flight, which used the same kind of rocket as the one that sends paying. Starship most recently attempted to reach orbit in April, which failed in a fireball. (AP) A rocket crashed back to Earth shortly after liftoff Monday in the first launch accident for Jeff Bezos’ space travel company, but the capsule carrying experiments managed to parachute to safety. Musk has been trying to cram his explosive mixture into the much larger Starship, which has so far failed to reach space, much less orbit. Like the much smaller ZQ-4 and its Magpie TQ-12 engine, Elon Musk's SpaceX has also been working on a rocket powered by a mix of methane and liquid oxygen, or methalox. ULA's Vulcan Centaur, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, will likely be grounded until a replacement can be built, tested and shipped without exploding first. The rocket was due to complete its testing in July before being delivered to the United Launch Alliance for use on its Vulcan craft that was supposed to launch in early 2023. The explosion reportedly destroyed the engine and damaged test mount infrastructure, but caused no injuries. Speaking of Jeff Bezos and exploding rockets …Įlon isn't alone in owning a rocket company with a penchant for blowing up methalox rockets Bezos' Blue Origin blew up one of its BE-4 methane/LOX rockets late last month, CNBC reported yesterday.īlue Origin employees have managed to keep a tight lid on the incident, previously not known about, which unnamed CNBC sources said happened 10 seconds into a test.
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