In this image from video made available by Blue Origin, the company's New Shepard rocket lands after a test flight in West Texas on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021. (Blue Origin via AP)
By Marcia Dunn
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin company launched a new capsule into space Thursday to test all the astronaut perks before people strap in.
Thursday’s flight with a dummy named Mannequin Skywalker lasted 10 minutes and reached 66 miles (106 kilometers) above West Texas. Both the New Shepard rocket and the capsule landed successfully.
It was the 14th flight to the fringes of space for a New Shepard rocket. The first was in 2015.
“The success of this flight puts us one really big step closer to flying astronauts,” launch commentator Ariane Cornell said from company headquarters in Kent, Washington. “There’s going to be a lot of fun ahead in 2021.”
Blue Origin plans to launch paying passengers — tourists, scientists and professional astronauts — on brief hops over West Texas' remote desert. It's also working on a bigger rocket, New Glenn, that would blast off from Cape Canaveral as well as a lunar lander for astronauts under NASA's Artemis moon program.
The capsule soaring Thursday featured the latest crew upgrades: microphones and push-to-talk buttons for the six seats, wall panels to muffle engine noise, a safety-alert system, and temperature and humidity controls to keep passengers comfortable and the big windows free of fog.
The launch and landing team was scaled back because of the pandemic.
New Shepard is named for the first American in space, Alan Shephard. New Glenn honors John Glenn, the first American in orbit.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Nearly 40% of Americans choose travel over financial stability, funding trips on credit and sacrificing other budget line items to take a vacation — because live fast or die trying.
Disney shareholders have rallied behind longtime CEO Robert Iger. They voted Wednesday to rebuff activist investor Nelson Peltz and his ally, former Disney chief financial officer Jay Rasulo.
Student loan borrowers have the ability to earn retirement funds pegged to their payments – and the company Summer might be bringing it to your workplace.
It might not be what investors want to hear… but bringing down inflation could mean interest rates stay higher for (even) longer. But it's not all downside.
President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping have discussed Taiwan, artificial intelligence and security issues in a call meant to demonstrate a return to regular leader-to-leader dialogue between the two powers.
April is Earth month, and while the green revolution might feel far away, the founder of climate VC Siam Capital says it’s on it’s way, and, even better: it won't cost you more.
From snow in April to heatwaves in December, it’s hard to plan a trip in a climate change world. Startup Sensible Weather thinks weather-based travel reimbursements are the solution.
