Blue Origin, the space company founded by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, has successfully launched the New Shepard rocket with a crew of 6 people to touch the edge of space at an altitude of 105.7 kilometers. This marks the first manned flight of the New Shepard program in 2022, known as mission NS-25, with a crew of Mason Angel, Sylvain Chiron, Kenneth L. Hess, Carol Schaller, Gopi Thotakura, and Ed Dwight. Notably, Ed Dwight was initially selected as the first African American astronaut in 1961 but did not ultimately go to space on a mission. At the age of 90 years and 8 months, Dwight holds the record as the oldest astronaut to travel outside Earth, surpassing actor William Shatner who did so at the age of 90 years and 6 months in 2021.
Blue Origin proudly announces that with the latest NS-25 mission, a total of 37 astronauts have been sent into space, out of a total of 657 individuals who have traveled outside of Earth’s atmosphere.
Source: Reuters and Blue Origin
The crew of NS-25 from left to right: Gopi Thotakura, Mason Angel, Carol Schaller, Ed Dwight, Ken Hess, and Sylvain Chiron. Liftoff of #NS25 pic.twitter.com/81W4Pfx8xP — Blue Origin (@blueorigin) May 19, 2024
Minutes to liftoff. Forever changed. #NS25 pic.twitter.com/g0uXLabDe9 — Blue Origin (@blueorigin) May 19, 2024
TLDR: Blue Origin, led by Jeff Bezos, successfully launched the New Shepard rocket with a crew of 6, including the historic astronaut Ed Dwight, marking a significant milestone in space exploration.
Leave a Comment