Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin Rocket Crashes Just Over 1 Minute After LaunchThe same New Shepard design has carried several celebrities, including Bezos, to the edge of space.
ByAmanda Breen•
Space tourismhas been getting a lot of attention lately, but a recent mishap was a reminder of what can go wrong.
On Monday,Jeff Bezos'sBlue Originlaunched an uncrewed New Shepard rocket that experienced a booster failure, perthe aerospace company, triggering an emergency landing for its capsule carrying three dozen experiments.
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There were no people aboard the flight, which departed from Blue Origin's launch site in West Texas. But several celebrities, including William Shatner,Michael Strahanand Bezos himself have journeyed to the edge of space on New Shepard vehicles of the same design,The New York Timesreported.
Booster failure on today's uncrewed flight. Escape system performed as designed.pic.twitter.com/xFDsUMONTh
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin)September 12, 2022
The incident occurred one minute and four seconds after takeoff, at the point where the vehicle experiences "forces of maximum atmospheric pressure." A yellow flame burst from the booster's engine, and as the booster pitched, the emergency escape system sent the capsule to safety.
的罗cket reached 37,000 feet, or approximately seven miles — well below the60-plus milestypically reached.
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The Federal Aviation Administration said it would investigate, groundingBlue Originflights until it concludes "whether any system, process or procedure related to the mishap affected public safety."