Successful test flight of New Shepard
Capitalism in space: Blue Origin today successful flew its New Shepard suborbital spacecraft on its second test flight.
You can watch the video of the full flight here. Try not to cringe listening to the announcer, who I think sometimes overdoes it.
They were aiming for a maximum altitude of 350,000 feet, which would place the capsule more than 100 kilometers or 66 miles above the Earth, the generally accepted altitude for the start of space. The live stream showed an maximum altitude of about 347,000, but the article says that later recalculations estimated a top altitude of 351,000.
Either way, they have now successfully achieved a safe suborbital spaceflight twice with this spacecraft, and both times carried science payloads. Meanwhile, their direct competitor, Virgin Galactic, has come no where close, even after fourteen years of development.
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Capitalism in space: Blue Origin today successful flew its New Shepard suborbital spacecraft on its second test flight.
You can watch the video of the full flight here. Try not to cringe listening to the announcer, who I think sometimes overdoes it.
They were aiming for a maximum altitude of 350,000 feet, which would place the capsule more than 100 kilometers or 66 miles above the Earth, the generally accepted altitude for the start of space. The live stream showed an maximum altitude of about 347,000, but the article says that later recalculations estimated a top altitude of 351,000.
Either way, they have now successfully achieved a safe suborbital spaceflight twice with this spacecraft, and both times carried science payloads. Meanwhile, their direct competitor, Virgin Galactic, has come no where close, even after fourteen years of development.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Agree about the on-air personality who is, ironically, named Ariane Cornell. She was so giddy as to make the personable and enthusiastic Kate Tice and Lauren Lyons, the two women engineers who often lead the SpaceX launch webcasts, look, in comparison, like the Great Stone Faces of newsreading’s yesteryear, such as Chet Huntley or Eric Sevareid. I think the SpaceX ladies have pretty well nailed the appropriate demeanor thing. Ms. Cornell, though obviously no middle-schooler, was burbling away like some tween video blogger. Less emoting and more info about what all those holds were about during the last half hour of the countdown would have been appreciated.
Dick–
Good stuff!
…the face behind the voice….
Ariane Cornell
ISPCS 2017 – Ariane Cornell November 2017
“Blue Origin and Operational Reusability”
https://youtu.be/wLCd5fxhNH0
9:21
Interesting to watch the acceleration. New Shepard’s maximum velocity is about 2000mph at MECO.
I always liked the fellow who did the announcing for the shuttle programs. Great voice and knew every aspect of the flight, the people and what was going on.
Have to remember that adult space nerds might not be the target audience for the announcer.
I thought the Kerbal Space coverage of the FH launch was a little cringy and over the top but the kids I was watching it with loved it.
You might be right about the aspirational demographic for Blue Origin webcasts. Mr. Bezos, after all, runs an entertainment network as well as a rocket company. If Blue is looking for the Nickelodeon or Disney Channel audience, perhaps what they’re doing here makes sense.
But Nick and Disney tend to have on-air personalities that are also age peers of their target kid audience. Ms. Cornell is hardly a crone, but she’s equally obviously an adult so the teen-girly burble is a bit jarring.
That said, what I was genuinely annoyed with was the complete lack of any specifics about what all those holds were about. SpaceX, ULA, Orbital, ESA and the Russians all do a much better job of explaining holds in their countdowns.
[“girly burble” — I like that, and will be incorporating that term into my daily speech!]
Ariane Cornell –
“5 Lessons I Learned from Business School That Can Be Applied to Space”
2016
https://youtu.be/SlteacT2L8I
9:22