New Shepard Booster Continued Mission Profile, Landed Safely

Blue Origin reached a significant milestone Wednesday with a spectacular, and successful test of its crew capsule escape system.

The entire flight lasted about eight minutes. The launch was delayed by about 45 minutes as the Blue Origin team resolved some minor technical issues.

The New Shepard booster lifted into the clear, blue Texas sky, and about 45 seconds into the flight the escape motor fired, separating the crew capsule from the booster. Blue Origin was fully prepared to lose the New Shepard booster during this test, but it continued to the fringe of space almost as if nothing had happened.

The crew capsule descended as intended under its drogue and then main parachutes, landing at about 15 miles per hour on the Texas desert. About five minutes later, the New Shepard booster completed is mission, and touched down on its landing pad for the fifth consecutive time.

Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos said that if they were able to recover the booster, it would be retired and placed in a museum as a testament to the company's success.

They'd better start getting that space ready.

(Images from Blue Origin live video stream on YouTube)

FMI: www.blueorigin.com