Blue Origin Takes Tourists to the Edge of Space for the 13th Time
Blue Origin successfully completed its 13th suborbital passenger mission, sending six tourists into space. The New Shepard rocket lifted off from Launch Site One in West Texas at 9:39 a.m. CDT on June 29. The crew included Ellie and Carl Kuehner, Leland Larson, Freddie Rescigno Jr., Owolabi Salis, and James Sitkin.
During the flight, the capsule reached an altitude of 105.2 km, crossing the Karman line, the boundary between the Earth’s atmosphere and space. At an altitude of 102 km, a state of weightlessness set in, lasting about three minutes. The passengers unbuckled their seats and moved freely around the capsule, observing the curved horizon of the planet against the backdrop of deep black space from the windows. Afterwards, the capsule landed softly in a desert area not far from the launch site. The entire flight lasted 10 minutes and 33 seconds.
In addition to the crew, there were about 1,000 postcards on board, launched as part of Blue Origin’s Club for the Future educational program. Participants in the program, mostly high school and college students, receive postcards back with a note about their flight, giving them a personal connection to space. The initiative helps to inspire a new generation to be interested in science, technology, and engineering. Each New Shepard mission includes such symbolic payloads, reflecting Blue Origin’s mission to nurture future explorers.
Ticket prices for NS-33, like previous New Shepard flights, were not disclosed. The NS-33 flight brought the total number of people who have flown suborbital flights to 123, according to the Association of Space Explorers.
